About Turkey...

2006 Result
History (1956 to 2005)
This year's entry
What I predicted...
What you thought...
What actually happened...
What the bookies thought...

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2006 Result

Points in Semi Final: 91
Position in Semi Final: 8th

Points in Final: 91
Position in Final: 11th
More about the 2006 result for Turkey

2007 Contest: Must compete in Semi Final

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History (1956 to 2005)

Turkey's previous appearances: 27 year(s) out of 50 [note]
Years participated: 1975; 1978; 1980-1993; 1995- [note]
Best result: 1st (2003)

Turkey's long-awaited victory in 2003 proved that persistence can finally pay off. Nearly thirty years after its first appearance in 1975, and with just three previous top ten finishes to show for its efforts (9th in 1986, 3rd in 1997 and 10th in 2000), Turkey finally made it. In one of the closest results ever, the winning song, Sertab Erener's 'Every way that I can', squeaked home with just 2 points more than Belgium, and 3 more than Russia. Cannily, Turkey managed to present a song that was unmistakably Turkish, while making the decision to perform in English - as Sertab herself has admitted, this was almost certainly a factor in securing its narrow victory. The elaborate and impressive dance routine didn't do any harm at all, either. As the previous year's winners, Turkey naturally found themselves qualified directly to the 2004 Final, where punk band Athena finished in an impressive 4th place with 195 points - on this run of form, maybe we could be fogiven for expecting another Turkish victory sooner rather than later.

Sadly, however, the Turkish bandwagon came to an abrupt halt in 2005 with Gülseren's 'Rim rimi ley' - a decent song, accompanied by a spectacular show, but lacking the sparkle of the previous two years' entries. Though Gülseren gained a respectable 92 points, including the maximum 'douze' from both France and the Netherlands, it was not quite enough, 13th place in the Final meaning that Turkey must take part in the Eurovision Semi Final for the first time.
Get 'The Eurovision Song Contest: The Offical History' at Amazon.co.uk

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This year's entry

Position in Semi Final draw: 14
Position in Final draw: 23

What I said prior to the Semi Final:
"After its disappointing result in 2005, Turkish broadcaster TRT has reverted to the formula that brought it success in 2003 and 2004, selecting an established artist internally. This year, the honour falls to 34-year-old Sibel Tüzün, finally making it to the Contest sixteen years after her last attempt: 'Kime ne', which finished 9th in the Turkish national selection of 1990. After a great deal of build up and frenzied publicity, the song that Sibel will sing was finally unveiled at the beginning of March - her own composition, 'Süper star', to be performed in Turkish.

To be honest, I'm not quite sure what to make of the song - it's certainly very contemporary indeed, sounding like bits of Kylie, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Madonna mixed together and given a Turkish twist. Strangely, 'Süper star' also reminds me of Army of Lovers' 'Ride the bullet', particularly during the verses. Overall, I think I like it - however, just like Turkey's 2003 victor, it is the kind of song that will need a really strong live vocal and a great show to lift it from something that sounds a little ordinary on CD into a potential Eurovision winning performance. For now, I'm going to reserve judgement - I honestly have no idea at this stage whether 'Süper star' could cause a surprise by failing to qualify for the Final, or if it could go on to win the whole thing. "

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What I predicted...

My prediction for Semi Final: 7th to 9th
My prediction for Final: Likely qualifier; 13th to 15th
See all my predictions for the 2006 Semi Final
See all my predictions for the 2006 Final

What I predicted prior to the Semi Final:
"So, what of Kylie Madonna-Bexter, aka Sibel Tüzün? Well, it certainly gets top marks for the preview video - one of the most effective and professional ones that we've seen this year. In Athens, much will depend on whether the visual appeal of the video can be translated into a live performance. Yet, as I said earlier in reply to someone else's comment, we are yet to see and hear the song performed live, meaning that "the problem is that it's all a bit of an unknown quantity... we're asked to believe in something we haven't really been shown yet". Yes, the hype coming out of the Turkish camp is phenomenal and wearying, but so far, we have lots of words - rather than evidence - that Sibel's going to be great on the night. Yet the song alone is no great shakes - it's almost irritatingly repetitive, and if it wasn't for the fact that Sibel is a respected performer, as well as the fact that we're continually being told how brilliant it's supposed to be, I don't think many people would be giving 'Süper star' a second glance. I also think the decision to perform in Turkish - despite an English version being distributed too - is a strange one that may affect the song's chances. Ballads and ethnic songs often work best in their original language, but there's arguably more of a case for singing a modern pop-dance song in English. Even the bookies are unconvinced, with the Turkish entry one of very few that is significantly less well-regarded in the betting than in the fan polls. This may suggest that the fan polls are suspect - however, while there have been a lot of dodgy votes for Turkey in the Soult.com Eurovision Jury Vote 2006 (and these have been removed, just like any other dodgy votes for other countries), there are also lots of completely valid votes going Sibel's way. So, I suspect that 'Süper star' will qualify, but don't be surprised if it goes and does an Agurbash, a victim of hype over substance.

If it does get to the Final, my prediction for 'Süper star' is a placing just outside the top ten, probably not too dissimilar to Gülseren's 13th place from 2005. "
Want an alternative prediction? See Simon Hylands' 'Je t'adore, Eurovision!' site

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What you thought...

View the final leader board

In the run up to the Contest, 1,721 visitors to this site awarded points to their favourite songs in the Soult.com Eurovision Jury Vote 2006, voting as a representative of their own country's 'jury'. The votes awarded by representatives of each country were totalled, with each of the 38 participating countries (plus the 'Rest of the World') then awarding points - 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - based on the overall voting preference of its representatives. The points awarded to the entry from Turkey are shown in the tables below:

Points awarded to Turkey overall:
AL	3	HR	7	GR	8	MK	4	PL	1	ES	1
AD	8	CY	2	IS	3	MT	0	PT	0	SE	1
AM	12	DK	3	IE	0	MD	0	RO	2	CH	0
BY	12	EE	3	IL	0	MC	10	RU	0	TR	X
BE	0	FI	0	LV	0	NL	8	CS	1	UA	7
BA	8	FR	7	LT	0	NO	8	SI	0	UK	4
BG	12	DE	8	WO	7	Last updated: 18 May 2006 Next scheduled update: None
Total points: 150, from 26/39 juries
Position: 5 out of 37

Points awarded to Turkey in the Semi Final:
AL	6	HR	8	GR	10	MK	6	PL	5	ES	6
AD	10	CY	7	IS	5	MT	0	PT	0	SE	4
AM	12	DK	6	IE	2	MD	5	RO	7	CH	2
BY	12	EE	7	IL	2	MC	12	RU	2	TR	X
BE	3	FI	1	LV	2	NL	10	CS	5	UA	8
BA	10	FR	8	LT	2	NO	8	SI	0	UK	8
BG	12	DE	12	WO	10	Last updated: 18 May 2006 Next scheduled update: None
Total points: 235, from 35/39 juries
Position: 3 out of 23

Points awarded to Turkey in the Final:
AL	3	HR	7	GR	8	MK	6	PL	4	ES	1
AD	8	CY	2	IS	4	MT	0	PT	0	SE	2
AM	12	DK	3	IE	0	MD	3	RO	2	CH	0
BY	12	EE	3	IL	0	MC	10	RU	0	TR	X
BE	1	FI	0	LV	0	NL	8	CS	1	UA	8
BA	8	FR	7	LT