Eurovision – Turkey

Here are some recent news articles about Hadise and Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009:

• April 4: Hadise “allies” with Spanish Eurovision contestant Soraya in a performance that featured both “Düm Tek Tek” and Spain’s song “La Noche Es Para Mí”.
  http://esctoday.com/news/read/13634
• April 11: After Hadise cancelled her Scandinavian tour only a week before performing in Finland, Finnish promoters of Turkey stopped promoting for “Düm Tek Tek” out of disappointment and frustration. Apparently the “Düm Tek Tek” video needed to be re-shot because it was banned by the TRT for being too sexual.
  http://www.belgovision.com/en/index_f.php?id=5342
• April 17: Hadise is releasing her new album, Fast Life, on May 11, the day before she performs in the first semi-final for Eurovision. “Düm Tek Tek” will appear on the album.
  http://www.belgovision.com/ticker/popped_eng.php?short_id=609
• April 30: “Düm Tek Tek” reached number one on the pop chart in Belgium. It is also very popular on iTunes (where it can be downloaded for free).
  http://www.belgovision.com/en/index_f.php?id=5377
• April 30: According to this website, “Düm Tek Tek” is considered one of just two songs (the other being Greece’s entry) that has the potential to beat Norway’s entry, which is the current running favorite between most sources.
  http://bettingchoice.co.uk/BETFAIR-2009-EUROVISION-BETTING-UPDATE-1368.php
• May 3: Hadise had her first rehearsal in Moscow.
  People who’ve left comments on the official Eurovision website have pretty polarized feelings about the song, either loving it or hating it.
  http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=2193

Overall, I think Hadise has been well-received throughout most of Europe. She and “Düm Tek Tek” have been highly promoted and many different sources have shown her to be consistently one of the top favorites in the Eurovision contest this year. Even though so much of Europe is currently in love with Norway’s Alexander Rybak, I think Hadise has a good shot of placing in one of the top spots. I project that she’ll atleast make it into the top 10, probably even into the top 5. It’ll be interesting to see how she does in the semi-final on May 12 (and most likely in the final on May 16)…

From when Turkey first started participating in Eurovision in 1975 until last year’s contest in 2008, Turkey has received the most points from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Belgium (in that order, with the top three only giving Turkey 10- and 12-point scores since 2003). Because Turkey has received the most points from Germany, that may explain why Hadise’s Eurovision promotion tour this year has been so focused on Germany, in hopes of continuing this voting trend. (In the post about Hadise, I listed all of the tour dates I’ve been able to find for her; early on in the tour she performed in Germany a remarkable number of times.) I’m a little surprised that Hadise didn’t do any concerts in her home country of Belgium, perhaps this is because she is already pretty well-known there. Other than Belgium, she performed in the other four countries from which Turkey has received a lot of points in the past.

Even though the Balkan countries haven’t historically given Turkey a huge number of points collectively, Hadise also had an entire Balkan tour. This was strategic because these countries tend to vote as a block (though usually for each other). Her tour has been very heavily based in eastern Europe, probably in hopes that a lot of these smaller countries will be attracted to the musical style of “Düm Tek Tek” and all group together to vote for Turkey.

It is interesting that the branch of the tour that was cancelled was the Scandinavian part. Historically, Turkey has not received many points from these countries, so it would make sense to promote more in that area. However, since these countries also tend to vote in a block, and because they are all currently so enamored with Norwegian contestant Alexander Rybak, Hadise’s promoters probably figured that some extra rehearsals for the Moscow performances were more important than performances in countries who probably wouldn’t give many points to Turkey anyway.

In terms of patterns in who Turkey votes for, historically Turkey has given the most points to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Yugoslavia. Interestingly, Turkey generally gives its higher point scores (10 and 12) to countries in eastern Europe and in the Balkans while giving its lower scores (1-8) to countries in western Europe. Perhaps Turkey is trying to both show some allegiance to close-by countries in the Balkan peninsula by giving them the higher scores, while also trying to win favor (in the Eurovision contest, as well as politically) with some of the more powerful countries in Europe by giving them some points. These lower scores, given more frequently, however, have accumulated over time, which sort of skews the presentation of the data. For example, while Turkey has given the most points to the United Kingdom in the 30 Eurovision contests Turkey has participated in thus far, Turkey has only awarded the 12-point score to them twice. Conversely, Turkey has given Yugoslavia the 12-point score four times. This, of course, is just speaking in general terms; there is no clear-cut pattern in voting history, which can be accounted for because each year people in Turkey aren’t necessarily voting politically, but voting for the songs they like the best.

In terms of voting for the winning entry, Turkey has only given their highest 12-point score to the winning country’s entry seven times. Additionally, Turkey has given the winning entry, on average 7.41 points.

Source:

http://www.eurovisioncovers.co.uk/xttur.htm

In the introduction to A Song for Europe: Popular Music and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest, Ivan Raykoff and Robert Deam Tobin present a song formula that many of the winning entries in Eurovision follow (I mentioned this formula in an earlier post on “Everyway That I Can,” Turkey’s only winning Eurovision entry). Here’s how “Düm Tek Tek” compares to that formula.

1. Fast pace and catchy rhythms

“Düm Tek Tek” is certainly and upbeat song, and there’s a catchy rhythmic hook built right into it with the “düm tek tek” drum pattern referenced in the lyrics. Any time Hadise says “düm tek tek” in the song, all of the instruments accompanying her (including a darbuka and other Turkish instruments) accent this patten with her, which really emphasizes it.

2. Memorable and repetitive lyrics

Just as the “düm tek tek” line is a catchy rhythmic hook, it is also a memorable and repetitive line in the lyrics. The actual chorus (Can you feel the rhythm in my heart/the beat’s going “düm tek tek”/always at it like there’s no minute/feels like there’s no way back) is sung numerous times throughout the song, and even on the first listen, by the end of the song any listener basically knows and can sing along with the chorus (it’s also the part that always gets stuck in my head, I’m sure others have had a similar experience). Even though the song is pretty accessible to listeners all over Europe because it is in English, the “düm tek tek” line sticks out and is easy to recognize even if one doesn’t understand the rest of the song. Many Eurovision entries often have choruses sung with vocables rather than words so more people can sing along. I think the “düm tek tek” line is partially a reference to that trend.

Aside from just the “düm tek tek” line in the chorus, other parts of the song are easy to latch on to. The bridge, for example, (Angel I wake up/and live my dreams/endlessly/crazy for you) happens twice, and is different from the verses and chorus because it is not as wordy and is more melodic. Since there aren’t many words in this part, it is easy to memorize. If the listener can’t memorize the lyrics for whatever reason, the melody is fairly simple.

The only other sections of the song are the two verses. While overall they have different lyrics, the structure of the two verses is the same. In the third line and last lines, the lyrics are either exactly the same, or just slightly different. This verse structure creates a memorable pattern.

3. Harmonically and dynamically contrasting chorus

The chorus isn’t that radically different from the verses. There are some noticeable differences in the rhythm of the lyrics, but both sections are fairly wordy and fast. Another subtle difference is that the instrumentation under the chorus is more full and stronger from the verses. While the verses are accompanied mainly by percussion, the chorus also has some melodic instruments behind it (such as what I think is a kaval doubling the vocal melody–it also plays a melodic hook while Hadise is not singing). Between the verse, bridge, and chorus structures, it is the bridge that sticks out from the other two. This bridge, however, does happen twice and always leads in to the chorus, so there still is a repeated, contrasting section to break up the song.

4. Key change

While many Eurovision songs do have at least one key change, “Düm Tek Tek” does not. Coincidentally, “Everyway That I Can” also did not have a key change, which was the only point in this formula that the song was missing. While it would have been pretty easy to incorporate a key change into “Everyway That I Can”, I think it would be hard to make one work in “Düm Tek Tek”, mainly because it is so rhythmic and it’s the rhythm that really drives the song.

5. Clearly defined finish

“Düm Tek Tek” definitely has a clearly defined ending. The song ends with two reiterations of the last couple lines from the chorus, and the final line is changed from “feels like there’s no way back” to “feels like… düm tek tek!”. By ending with the lyric hook, it makes the very last line stronger and more memorable. Additionally, since the music also stops with the lyrics and doesn’t fade out, it makes the end of the song more defined. In live performances, everyone freezes for several seconds at the end of the song as well so everything really stops.

6. Appealing dance routine

Throughout the song, Hadise is lightly dancing while singing with some backup dancers behind her who are a little more elaborate in their movements. There is a little interlude before the second verse in which Hadise and the backup dancers do a little belly dance routine. After the second chorus there is more of a dance routine, with additional dancers joining. All of the dancing is relatively subtle, and mainly focuses around Hadise belly dancing.

7. Costumes

In each performance I’ve seen of this song, Hadise and her dancers are wearing something different, none of which have been particularly “Turkish”. While I do not know what they are going to wear for actual Eurovision competition, I doubt it’ll be “costumes” per se, but more along the lines of just flashy clothing. It is likely that Hadise will be wearing very little clothing, and almost guaranteed that her stomach will be bare to both increase her sexuality and accentuate the belly dancing routines.

Source:

Raykoff, Ivan, and Robert Deam Tobin. 2007. “Introduction.”A Song for Europe: Popular Music and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest. Burlinton, VT: Ashgate. xix.

Here are the lyrics for “Düm Tek Tek” (also known as “Crazy for You”), written by Hadise and Stefan Fernande. They are entirely in English, with the exception of the Turkish drum pattern from which the song gets its name. The actual words are pretty sexual, which is interesting considering Hadise’s already controversial sexual image and the fact that this song is representing Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country. It would seem that the TRT would want to pick a song with a little more thematic value than an over-the-top love song, but it is for Eurovision and the TRT is probably hoping that Hadise’s sexuality will encourage votes. Additionally, like the words to so many Eurovision entries, it seems like no one really cares (or notices…) that parts of the song make little sense, or if the lyrics are just totally absurd. Granted, writing lyrics in English when English is not your first language is a hard thing to do, another reason why it is interesting that so many entries from different countries seek to use English words for their songs.

“Düm Tek Tek”

Baby you’re perfect for me
you are my gift from heaven
this is the greatest story of all times.
We met in like in a movie
so meant to last forever
and what you’re doing to me
feels so fine.

Angel I wake up
and live my dreams
endlessly
crazy for you.

Can you feel the rhythm in my heart
the beat’s going “düm tek tek”
always out it like there no minute
feels like there’s no way back.
Can you feel the rhythm in my heart
the beat’s going “düm tek tek”
always out it like there’s no minute
feels like there’s no way back.

Baby I read all answers
in your exotic movements
you are the greatest dancer of all times.
You make me feel so special
no one can kiss like you do
as it is your profession
feel so fine.

Angel I wake up
and live my dreams
endlessly
crazy for you.

Can you feel the rhythm in my heart
the beat’s going “düm tek tek”
always out it like there no minute
feels like there’s no way back.
Can you feel the rhythm in my heart
the beat’s going “düm tek tek”
always out it like there’s no minute
feels like there’s no way back.

Can you feel the rhythm in my heart

Can you feel the rhythm in my heart
the beat’s going “düm tek tek”
always out it like there no minute
feels like there’s no way back.
Can you feel the rhythm in my heart
the beat’s going “düm tek tek”
always out it like there’s no minute
feels like there’s no way back.

Always out it like it no minute
feels like there’s no way back.
Always out it like there’s no minute
feels like “düm tek tek”.

Hadise Açıkgöz was born in Belgium on October 22, 1985 to Turkish parents, making her 23 years old going into the Eurovision competition, and the first person to represent Turkey who was not born in the country. Her first name means “story” in Turkish.

In 2003, she competed in the Belgian pop song contest “Idool”, and although she did not win, she received a fair amount of publicity and was signed to 2Brain Records. It was on this label that Hadise released her first hit singles in late 2004 and early 2005, which were then later released on her first full-length album Sweat in November 2005 in both Belgium and Turkey. In December 2007, Hadise began recording her second studio album, Hadise, which was released in June 2008 in Belgium and September 2008 in Turkey. This album also had several hit singles.

After a friend failed to make it to the finals of the national competition to determine Belgium’s Eurovision representative for the 2008 contest, Hadise said she would never take part in the competition. However, several months later she changed her mind and expressed interest in competing in Eurovision , but as Turkey’s representative because she felt that Turkey has a stronger investment in the competition than Belgium. Also, she felt that since she already won some awards in Belgium for her music, she wanted to establish herself more in Turkey. She was ultimately chosen by the TRT because of her popularity in Turkey, Belgium, and in a lot of western Europe as a singer and a television personality.

Hadise has received a lot of criticism over her overly sexualized image. In fact, she almost lost her Eurovision contract with the TRT after some revealing photographs of her were published in a popular magazine. However, since the pictures were taken before she signed the contract with TRT, she hadn’t actually breached her contract and the lawsuit was dropped.

It is interesting that the TRT prioritized popularity outside of Turkey over choosing someone who was actually from the country. Though Hadise has cultural ties to the country because of her Turkish heritage, it seems like choosing someone who wasn’t born and raised in Turkey is continuing recent trend of “westernization” in Turkish Eurovision entries. Granted, the TRT required that Turkish instruments be used in the song, but with English starting to outplace Turkish as the language of the lyrics in the early 2000s, and now having a Belgian singer as the country’s representative, Turkey’s entries are slowly becoming more distant from the culture and people they are representing. These choices, of course, are so that the entries can appeal to a wider audience and increase the chances of Turkey winning the competition, which could ultimately benefit the country politically and economically.

Hadise is currently touring all over Europe as part of her heavy promotion of “Düm Tek Tek” for the Eurovision finals in May. Aside from her musical career, she has a marketing degree and is fluent in Flemish, French, Turkish, English, and German.

Here’s an interview with Hadise about her participation in Eurovision this year:

Hadise’s Eurovision promotional tour schedule:

Febrary 5: Malta (including national Eurovision semi-final)
February 18: Athens, Greece (national Eurovision final)
February 21: Munich, Germany
February 27: Oberhausen, Germany
February 28: Nuremberg, Germany
March 1: Bosnia and Herzegovina (national Eurovision final)
March 3: Amsterdam, the Netherlands
March 7: Frankfurt, Germany
March 18: Moscow, Russia
March 20: Stuttgart, Germany
March 21: Vienna, Austria
March 27: Zürich, Switzerland
March 28: Paris, France
April 3: Madrid, Spain (including performance with Soraya, Spain’s Eurovision contestant)
April 4: Andorra
April 7: Greece
April 8: Macedonia
April 9: Serbia
April 10: Bulgaria
April 11: Romania (performance with Tarkan, a German-Turkish pop singer)
April 12: Moldova
April 17: Helsinki, Finland CANCELLED*
April 19: Stockholm, Sweden CANCELLED*
April 23: Izmir, Turkey (live television performance)
May 1: Georgia
May 2: Azerbaijan

*Hadise’s Scandinavian tour was cancelled because parts of the “Düm Tek Tek” video needed to be re-shot and because Hadise needed to rehearse and learn choreography for the Moscow performances.

Sources:

http://www.hadisemusic.com/
http://www.trt.net.tr/eurovision2009/english/hadise.html
http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12416
http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12478
http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12640
http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/13634
http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/13692
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadise
http://www.belgovision.com/en/index_f.php?id=5128
http://www.belgovision.com/en/index_f.php?id=5170
http://www.myspace.com/hadiseacikgoz

The official video of “Düm Tek Tek” was released in March to promote the song in Turkey and the rest of Europe.

Source:

http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/13567

For the 2009 competition, the TRT asked for the Turkish people’s input for ideas about who they wanted to represent them in Eurovision, marking only the second time the TRT took outside input into consideration when choosing a candidate for this contest. (The other time being in 2004 when the Eurovision entry was decided by televoting.) The logic of this decision being, of course, to help promote Eurovision in Turkey and to get more of the general public interested and invested in the contest.

In August 2008, the TRT began asking the public to submit their ideas for who they wanted to represent them in Moscow in May of 2009. By September, they had narrowed it down to two possible choices: rock singer Şebnem Ferah or pop star Hadise Açıkgöz. Ferah has had a lot of success in Turkey, and TRT was both excited and concerned about how her music would be different than most other countries’ entries. Hadise, on the other hand, is a little more in line with the rest of the music happening in Eurovision (though the TRT was still a little concerned about her style and how it would be received), and she is also more popular in Europe.

It is interesting that no specific song was in mind to be performed to represent the country; the TRT’s first concern was to pick the actual person to represent Turkey, and then to pick a song from there. In a song competition, it seems like entrants should be more invested in choosing a song, but with the politics of involvement and desire to win the competition, it is noteworthy to point out a shift in priorities.

In late October 2008, the TRT announced that Hadise would represent Turkey in Eurovision. Because of all the publicity leading up to choosing her, she became even more popular in Turkey, so combined with her already established stardom in much of the rest of Europe, I suppose she seemed like a more attractive candidate.

Once Hadise was chosen to represent Turkey, she submitted three songs for TRT to choose from in December. For all three songs, Hadise co-wrote the lyrics while a Turkish composer wrote the music. She was given complete artistic control over these songs, with the only condition from the TRT that she had to use Turkish instruments in the song. Otherwise, she was free to choose the rest of the music, lyrics, language, costumes, etc. herself. In order to choose between the three songs she submitted, the TRT assembled an “expert jury” to make the decision, with no input from the general public.

It was announced that the winning choice would be revealed to the general public as part of a New Year’s special. Once January 1, 2009 rolled around to Turkey, Hadise performed the TRT’s final choice, “Düm Tek Tek”, live on Turkish television:

The initial reaction from the public was very positive; in several online polls organized by the TRT, the majority of those who voted said the song was “very good”, and that they thought it would be successful in Eurovision.

Sources:

http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12293
http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12392
http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12416
http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12646
http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12478
http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12627
http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12815
http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12818
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_in_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest_2009

The music department of the Turkish broadcaster Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu (TRT) has always been responsible for choosing the Eurovision entry since Turkey began participating in 1975. For a long time, the TRT held national finals, from which they would chose the Turkish Eurovision representative internally. Probably because almost anyone could audition, this failed to attract Turkish pop stars from auditioning and participating. Therefore, the musical acts chosen to represent Turkey were generally widely unknown and Turkey’s participation in Eurovision failed to excite much of the Turkish population. (This lack of interest is probably another reason the popular musical groups weren’t interested in taking part in the competition.)

In 1997, Turkey came in third place with Sebnem Paker singing “Dinle”. This mustered up some short lived Eurovision enthusiasm, though it faded in the following years probably because Turkey went back to placing in the middle of the competition.

In 2003, the TRT decided to stop the national competitions to find their Eurovision entries. Instead, they approached pop singers to represent the country, which helped muster up the local interest in the competition again. This change in the process proved to be successful, as their choice of Sertab Erener singing “Everyway That I Can” won the competition for Turkey that year.

Sources:

http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/12293
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_in_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest

Turkey has been participating in Eurovision since 1975; however, they didn’t participate in 1976, 1977, 1979, or 1994. While I couldn’t find definitive reasons as to why they didn’t participate in 1976 or 1977, I’m assuming that it was due to a lack of interest in the competition (after all, on their debut in the contest, they placed last). Turkey’s lack of participation in 1979 and 1994, however, are more noteworthy.

In 1979, Turkey was forced under pressure to withdraw by other Arab states that objected to Turkey (a predominantly Muslim country) participating in a contest held in Israel. This withdrawal was very upsetting for the chosen entry, Maria Rita Epik and 21.Peron performing the song “Seviyorum”.

In 1994, because there were so many new countries entering the competition, the lowest placing five countries from the 1993 contest were disqualified. Because Turkey only won 10 points from their 1993 entry, they placed 21st out of 25 entries, disqualifying them for the 1994 contest.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_1979
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_1994

Since Turkey’s 2003 entry won the Eurovision Song Contest, they hosted the contest in 2004, as is the tradition in the contest. The event took place at the Abdi İpekçi Arena in Istanbul, the semi-final round occurred on May 12 and the finals on May 15. The slogan for that year was “Under The Same Sky”, in attempts to help unify Turkey with Europe, as historically there has been tension and controversy in accepting Turkey as part of Europe. Apparently there were some technical glitches in the voting system, but other than that the show ran relatively smoothly.

A small, but noteworthy political controversy took place in the presentation of the scores for Cyprus. For every other country, a map of the country was projected alongside their scores. However, since Turkey recognizes the Turkish-occupied northern part of Cyprus to be an independent republic, and because Turkey did not want to anger the international community, they didn’t project a map of Cyprus alongside their scores, angering some Cypriots.

Interestingly, the countries that did well in the contest in 2004 tended not to be the traditional powerhouse countries of western Europe. Almost all of the countries that finished in the top 10 (Ukraine, Serbia and Montenegro, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Sweeden, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, and Spain) are in central and eastern Europe. I’m guessing that this can be accounted partially because of the voting blocks that occur in this competition between certain countries (especially because many countries from the Balkan Peninsula did so well in 2004). Additionally, perhaps with the compeitition physically taking place in Turkey, other eastern European countries may have been more excited to participate, while the western European countires may have been less excited due to political reasons and tensions.

Turkey’s entry did well, placing fourth out of 24; however, ultimately Ukraine, in only it’s second year of participating in Eurovision, won the contest with Ruslana Lyzhichko’s performance of “Wild Dances”.

Sources:

http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=8#event_info_8
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_2004

In 2003, Turkey won the Eurovision Song Contest with Sertab Erener’s performance of “Everyway That I Can”, which she co-wrote. She made a controversial decision to sing the song in English, which made this performance the first time Turkey had been represented in Eurovision by a song entirely in English. The song is upbeat and features traditional Turkish instruments in the arrangement, as well as belly dancing and flashy costumes. While these choices were probably made to honor and incorporate Turkish traditions into the song, they come off as overdone and kind of like a caricature of Turkish culture. (From the few video clips I’ve seen of Eurovision entries, it seems like this is a trend in entries from other countries as well.)

It is interesting to compare this song with the Eurovision song formula Ivan Raykoff and Robert Deam Tobin present in the introduction of their book on Eurovision. Of the seven points they mention, this song contains six of them (fast pace and catchy rhythms, memorable and repetitive lyrics, a contrasting chorus, a clearly defined finish, an appealing dance routine, and costumes), the only part of the formula the song doesn’t have is the key change (though I think Erener more than makes up for it with the little rap interlude before the final chorus). Even with adhering to the winning song formula, however, the song wasn’t projected to win at all. (The Russian group t. A. T. u. was the popular favorite many people thought were going to win the contest.) After the contest, the song became an international success, and Erener released an official video for the track, with even more sex appeal and cultural stereotypes than in the Eurovision performance:

Sources:

Raykoff, Ivan, and Robert Deam Tobin. 2007. “Introduction.”A Song for Europe: Popular Music and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest. Burlington, VT: Ashgate. xix.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everyway_That_I_Can

While the Eurovision Song Contest began in 1956, Turkey did not participate until 1975. In the intervening 34 years, Turkey has participated 31 times; the only years Turkey did not participate were 1976, 1977, 1979, and 1994.

All of the performers representing Turkey in Eurovision have been Turkish, and the majority of the songs performed have been sung completely in Turkish. The 2000 entry was the first to have English lyrics (though it also contained Turkish lyrics), and since 2000, English lyrics have been just as common as Turkish. Interestingly, the first time Turkey had an entry with exclusively English lyrics (in 2003) was the only year they won the competition.

Turkey does not have the most successful competition history in the contest. It wasn’t until their ninth entry (in 1985) that they broke into the top 10, though aside from that one occurrence, they placed in the bottom half of the competition until 1997. In 1997, they managed to place third, being represented by Sebnem Parker (who had also represented the country the previous year). However, from 1998-2002, they remained pretty much in the middle of the competition. As mentioned earlier, in 2003 Turkey won the competition with Sertab Erener’s performance of “Everyway That I Can”. The following year (when Turkey hosted the competition), they placed fourth (though they received more points than in 2003), and didn’t break into the top five again until 2007.

The majority of the songs performed in the history of Eurovision to represent Turkey have not been original songs to the performers. Eleven of the 31 songs have been either written or co-written by the singers and/or groups that performed them. However, seven of those 11 songs were entries in the last ten years, and since 2006, all of the songs have been either written or co-written by the performers.

Sources:

http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-country/country?country=17
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_in_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest