Following eight semi-finals and a final on 14 March 2013, a six-member jury selected "Hold Me" performed by Farid Mammadov as the winner.

Performing during the show in position 4, "Hold Me" was announced among the top 10 entries of the second semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 18 May.

[3][4] Milli Seçim Turu 2013 was the national final organised by İTV that selected the Azerbaijani entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.

[5] The final was also streamed online at the official Eurovision Song Contest website eurovision.tv and broadcast in Turkey on TRT Müzik.

[4][12] The members of the jury were:[13] The eight semi-finals took place between 17 December 2012 and 8 March 2013 at the İTV studios in Baku, hosted by Leyla Aliyeva and Konul Arifkizi.

[15] The final took place on 14 March 2013 at the Buta Palace in Baku, hosted by Leyla Aliyeva and Tural Asadov.

[16] In addition to the performances of the artists, the National Music Group, Tunzale Agayeva, Chingiz Mustafayev, Azerbaijani Eurovision Song Contest 2011 winner Eldar Gasimov and 2012 Azerbaijani Eurovision entrant Sabina Babayeva performed during the show as guests.

[5] Farid Mammadov made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Hold Me" as the Azerbaijani Eurovision entry.

On 7 April, Mammadov took part in promotional activities in Greece where he appeared during the Alpha TV morning show programme Mes Tin Kali Hara and performed at a Eurovision party which was organised by oikotimes.com and held at the NOIZ Club in Athens.

[17][18] Between 14 and 15 April, Mammadov took part in promotional activities in Lithuania where he appeared and performed during the LRT programme Labas rytas, Lietuva and the TV3 show Chorų karai.

[19] Between 26 and 27 April, Mammadov appeared during the TVM talk show programmes Ħadd Għalik and Xarabank in Malta.

[22][23] According to Eurovision rules, all nations with the exceptions of the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are required to qualify from one of two semi-finals in order to compete for the final; the top ten countries from each semi-final progress to the final.

On 17 January 2013, a special allocation draw was held which placed each country into one of the two semi-finals, as well as which half of the show they would perform in.

[27] The male dancer, which conveyed the idea of Mammadov's shadow, performed an acrobatic routine in a transparent glass box filled with pink petals that served as a podium for Mammadov in the first part of the song, while the female dancer, who appeared later, played the role of love.

An additional three off-stage backing vocalists were also part of the performance: Alvaro Estrella, Fernando Fuentes and Jennie Jahns.

This jury was asked to judge each contestant based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.