Armenia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song „Jan Jan“ written by Avet Barseghyan, Vardan Zadoyan and Mane Hakobyan. The song was performed by the duo Inga and Anush. The Armenian entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia was selected through the national final Evrotesil 2009, organised by the Armenian broadcaster Public Television of Armenia (AMPTV). The national final took place on 14 February 2009 where twenty-one entries competed. „Jan Jan“ performed by Inga and Anush was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a professional jury and a public televote.

Armenia was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 12 May 2009. Performing during the show in position 6, „Jan Jan“ was announced among the 10 qualifying entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 16 May. It was later revealed that Armenia placed fifth out of the 18 participating countries in the semi-final with 99 points. In the final, Armenia performed in position 9 and placed tenth out of the 25 participating countries with 92 points.

Early rumours

In December 2008, it was reported that the Armenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 would be internally selected by the AMPTV, and that the Armenian representative would either be singer Aramé or Armenian-American band System of a Down with a song about the Armenian genocide, which was addressed by member of the Turkish Parliament from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Akif Ekici who demanded the prevention of the band as the Armenian entrant. Lead singer of System of a Down Serj Tankian later denied their participation in the contest with AMPTV subsequently announcing the organization of a national final to select the Armenian entry.

Evrotesil 2009

Evrotesil 2009 was the national final that selected the Armenian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009. The competition took place on 14 February 2009 at the Sport and Concert Complex in Yerevan, hosted by Gohar Gasparyan and Avet Barseghyan and broadcast on Channel 1. The 21 participating acts were selected by the broadcaster following a submission period which was open from 9 January through 7 February 2009; of the 21 submissions received, all were selected to compete. Artists were required to be of Armenian citizenship, while songwriters worldwide were able to submit songs. Prior to the event, the competing acts were presented to the public during a press conference on 12 February 2009. Interval acts for the event featured Armenian Eurovision 2007 entrant Hayko with „Anytime You Need“ and Armenian Eurovision 2008 entrant Sirusho with „Qélé, Qélé“. At the close of voting, „Jan Jan“ performed by Inga and Anush Arshakyan, was determined to the winner, having been selected by the 50/50 combination of votes from a professional jury and a public vote.

Results of Evrotesil 2009

Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Jury	Televote	Total	Place
1	Iren	„Miayn du“ (Միայն դու)	Arek Arustamyan, Nana Gabrielyan	0	91	0	0	14
2	Hasmik Margaryan	„Erazanq“ (Երազանք)	Hasmik Margaryan	0	62	0	0	16
3	The Beautified Project	„Butterfly“	The Beautified Project, Andre Simonian	0	223	2	2	11
4	Hay-ya	„Molto Bello“	Artyom Hakobyan, Artur Primac	4	173	1	5	8
5	Marta Bulbulyan	„Es antarri perin em“ (Ես անտառի փերին եմ)	Arman Harutyunyan	0	55	0	0	18
6	Inga and Anush Arshakyan	„Jan Jan“ (Ջան Ջան)	Avet Barseghyan, Vardan Zadoyan, Mane Hakobyan	12	5,416	12	24	1
7	Oxygen	„Pare andzrevi“ (Պարե անձրևի)	Artyom Hakobyan	0	9	0	0	21
8	Artem Avun	„Eternal Fire“	Artyom Hakobyan	0	82	0	0	15
9	Shprot	„Lucky“	DJ Sergio, Garik	6	1,055	7	13	5
10	Hayk Kasparov	„Give Me an Answer“	Hayk Kasparov, Gayane Sahakyan	0	50	0	0	19
11	Arman Harutyunyan	„Come On, My Friends“	Arman Harutyunyan	0	57	0	0	17
12	Guj	„Ko dem“ (Քո դեմ)	Guj	0	23	0	0	20
13	Lilu	„Et ari“ (Ետ արի)	Richard Madlenyan, DerHova	0	353	4	4	9
14	Davit Minasyan	„Kez yerkem“ (Քեզ երկեմ)	Davit Minasyan	1	90	0	1	12
15	Mher	„My Heart, My Soul“	Mher, Philip Renner	7	4,493	10	17	2
16	Dorians	„Fly“	Gor Sujyan, Vardan Zadoyan	10	874	6	16	3
17	Bambir	„Yolk“	Bambir	5	1,134	8	13	4
18	Hripsime Hakobyan	„Eli Eli“ (Էլի Էլի)	Vahram Petrosyan	2	272	3	5	7
19	Davo	„Dzerkere ver“ (Ձեռքերը վեր)	HT Hayko, David Miroyan	0	100	0	0	13
20	Tigran Petrosyan	„Only Time“	Hayko, Vardan Zadoyan	8	495	5	13	6
21	Sergey Grigoryan	„Kez hamar“ (Քեզ համար)	Karen Grigoryan, Sergey Grigoryan	3	127	0	3	10

Controversy

Following Inga and Anush’s win at the Armenian national final, Azerbaijani press claimed that „Jan Jan“ had fully copied the song „Nakhchivani“, which was composed more than 30 years ago by Azerbaijani composer Tofig Guliyev. However, it was deemed that both songs barely resemble one another with only slight similarities of regional rhythms and instrumentation.

Promotion

Inga and Anush made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote „Jan Jan“ as the Armenian Eurovision entry. On 4 April, Inga and Anush performed during the Armenia Tashir Awards which was held in Moscow, Russia. On 18 April, Inga and Anush performed during the Eurovision Promo Concert, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Marga Bult and Maggie MacNeal.

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