Turkey participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Deli" written by

Kerem Özyeğen Mazhar Kerem Özyeğen (born 26 September 1977 in İstanbul, Turkey) is the lead guitarist and one of the backing singers in the Turkish rock group Mor ve Ötesi. Previously played and sang in punk-rock group Spark, and later in a jazz-rock gro ...

Burak Güven Burak Güven (born October 9, 1975) is a Turkish musician, bass player, and one of the backing singers in the rock band Mor ve Ötesi. Biography He was born in İstanbul, Turkey. From 1993 to 2000, Burak studied singing at the State Conserv ...

Kerem Kabadayı Kerem Kabadayı (born 20 December 1977) is a Turkish writer and musician (drummer). He is a founding member and party Turkish rock-band Mor ve Ötesi. Biography He was born on 20 December 1977 in Ankara, Turkey, to Ülkü (Yulku) Kabadayı a ...

and

Harun Tekin Sami Harun Tekin (born 28 June 1977) is a Turkish singer, musician, and poet. He is one of the founding members and the vocalist of the Turkish rock band Mor ve Ötesi. Biography In 1988, while being a student at German High School in Istanb ...

. The song was performed by

Mor ve Ötesi Mor ve ötesi (literally ''Purple and Beyond''; a play on the word '' morötesi'', meaning ultraviolet) is a Turkish alternative rock band from Istanbul. Its four current members are Harun Tekin (vocals and rhythm guitar), Kerem Kabadayı (drum ...

. The entry was selected through an internal selection organised by Turkish broadcaster Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu (TRT).

Before Eurovision

Internal selection

On 17 December 2007, TRT announced during a press conference that the band

had been internally selected to represent Turkey in Belgrade. The selection of Mor ve Ötesi as the Turkish representative was decided from five shortlisted artists, among them being singer Tarkan. Three songs were submitted by the band to the broadcaster in January 2008 and a nine-member selection committee consisting of Muhsin Mete (TRT deputy general manager), Deniz Çakmakoğlu (TRT deputy head of music), Kürşat Özkök (Ankara Television manager), Ümran Sönmezer (TRT polyphonic music director), Neşet Ruacan (conductor at the TRT Istanbul Light Music and Jazz Orchestra), Kamil Özler (member of the TRT Istanbul Light Music and Jazz Orchestra), Can Sertoğlu (manager of Mor ve Ötesi) and two members of the band

and

selected "Deli" as the song they would perform at the contest. On 15 February 2008, "Deli" was presented to the public during the

TRT 1 TRT 1 (''TRT One'') is the first Turkish national television channel, owned by state broadcaster TRT. It was launched on 31 January 1968 as a test broadcast and was officially launched in December 1971. It was the only channel in Turkey until 15 ...

evening news bulletin. A press conference later took place at the TRT Tepebaşı Studios in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, broadcast on TRT 1 as well as online via the broadcaster's official website ''trt.net.tr''. Mor ve Ötesi performed the song both playback and live as well as performing a mini concert during the press conference. The song was written by members of the band

and

At Eurovision

Although Turkey had been granted a spot in the 2008 final because of its fourth-place finish at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2007 The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Helsinki, Finland, following the country's victory at the with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" by Lordi. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

, it had to compete in a semi-final because of new rules put into effect by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). In previous years, countries that received a top 10 placing were automatically granted a spot in the next year's final without having to compete in a semi-final, but for 2008, the EBU changed the automatic qualification regulations so that all countries except the "Big 4" (France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom) and host country, would have to pass through one of two semi-finals. The EBU split up countries with a friendly voting history into separate semi-finals, to give a better chance for other countries to win. On 28 January 2008, the EBU held a special draw which determined that Turkey would be in the second semi-final, held on 22 May 2008. performed 3rd, following

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and preceding the

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Turkey qualified to the final, placing 7th in the semi-final and scoring 85 points. In the final they performed 12th following

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and preceding

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. They finished 7th with 138 points (including a maximum 12 from

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

). Commentary on Turkish television was provided by

Bülend Özveren Bülend Özveren (1943 – 18 October 2022) was a Turkish television presenter and sports commentator. Özveren completed his secondary education at (Istanbul) and higher education at Galatasaray High School. He graduated from Istanbul Univers ...

and the country's spokesperson was Meltem Ersan Yazgan.

Voting

Points awarded to Turkey

Points awarded by Turkey

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2008

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...