The Turkvision Song Contest heads into its 4th edition this evening, so here’s an explanation of how the contest works for first time viewers.
Who organises the competition?
The Turkvision Song Contest is organised by the Turkish channel TMB TV, the channel has organised the contest since it was first held in 2013. There is a common misconception that Turkish public broadcaster TRT organises the contest, however the broadcaster was only involved with the first contest in 2013.
What is the purpose of the contest?
Speaking ahead of the contest the Director TMB TV, Samir Gurbanov, stated that:
The Turkvision Song Contest aims to contribute to civilisation, unity and solidarity, world peace, and the adoption and dissemination of Turkish culture at the international level, with the awareness that Turkish culture is based on the principles of love, tolerance and rationality.
Turkvision, in which artists from the country will participate as contestants, will be attended by the official delegations of the Turkic world countries. There is intense support and participation from the education, arts and business world and NGOs and draws attention as one of the best examples of unity and solidarity in the Turkish world.
By bringing the representatives of participating countries together, creating a musical dialogue and establishing new platforms, supporting the best composers, poets, musicians and artists of the Turkish-speaking countries and communities in their own music, and promoting the survival of Turkish culture, public institutions and organizations, private sector, media and attracts the attention of press organizations.
How are acts picked?
Unlike contests like the Eurovision Song Contest there is not a broadcast per competing region that selects their representative, there are in fact three different ways for an act to be selected.
Broadcaster selection – In a number of the competing regions and countries there is a broadcaster that is the official partner for the competition. These broadcasters are:
- Azerbaijan – ATV Azerbaijan
- Bosnia & Herzegovina – Hayat TV
- Gagauzia – GRT
- Germany – Türkshow Televizyonu
- Iraq – Türkmeneli TV
- North Macedonia – MRT
- Northern Cyprus – Kibris Genc TV
- Serbia – RTV Novi Pazar
- Turkey – TMB
A number of regions also select their representatives using local cultural organisations for Turkic ethnic groups. For example the Nogai’s who are debuting this year selected their act through the Union of Nogai Youth, while Romania selected their act through the Uniunea Democrată Tătară.
The final way that an act can be selected is through applying to the contest organisers. The representative of the Tyumen Oblast is one of the acts who submitted an application to compete in the show and was not supported by a broadcaster or local cultural organisation.
What languages can singers perform in?
Singers must perform in a Turkic language where possible. The Turkic languages that will be heard in the contest this afternoon are:
- Azerbaijan
- Bashkir
- Gagauz
- Kazakh
- Tatar
- Turkish
- Tuvan
- Yakut
The representative of Albania traditionally performs in both Turkish and Albanian, while Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina send entries in the Bosnian language.
How is the winner chosen?
You can read more about how the winner is chosen here.
What is the Audience Sympathy Award?
The Audience Sympathy Award gives viewers the chance to vote for their favourite act in the contest.
The acts competing for the award have recorded a cover of “Sari Gelin”. The song is a famous folk song from the Southern Caucasus about a girl who a boy loves but cannot be with. You can vote for your favourite here.
A total of thirteen artists have recorded covers of “Sari Gelin”, they are:
- Azerbaijan – Aydan İlxaszade
- Bashkortostan – Ziliya Bahtieva
- Gagauzia – Yulia Arnaut
- Germany – Seyran Ismayilkhanov
- Kyrgyzstan – Aiganysh Abdieva
- North Macedonia – Cengiz Sipahi
- Northern Cyprus – Çağıl İşgüzar
- Poland – Mishelle
- Romania – Sunai Giolacai
- Russia – Olga Shimanskaya
- Tatarstan – Diliya Ahmetshina
- Turkey – Ertan V İsrafil
- Ukraine – Natalie Papazoglu
What does the winner receive?
The winner of the contest will be invited to TMB TV to attend the Turkvision Song Contest 2021, with all expenses covered. They will also film a professional video with TMB TV. Second and third place may also be invited to the 2021 contest.
Cash prizes will be awarded to the acts that finish in the top three of the contest later this year. The full list of cash prizes is as follows:
- 40,000 Turkish lira (4,300 Euro)
- 24,000 Turkish lira (2,580 Euro)
- 16,000 Turkish lira (1,720 Euro)
Image Source: CEO Events