Performing during the show in position 8, "Start a Fire" was announced among the top 10 entries of the first semi-final and therefore qualified to compete in the final on 10 May.

This marked the first time that Azerbaijan did not place in the top ten of the Eurovision Song Contest since its first entry in 2008.

Between 2011 and 2013, Azerbaijan organized a national final titled Milli Seçim Turu to select the performer, song or both for Eurovision.

[6] On 26 December 2013, İTV called for interested artists to submit their applications to the broadcaster by attend a casting round held in the following eight cities across Azerbaijan between 9 and 16 January 2014:[7] 250 applicants attended the castings in front of a five-member jury panel consisting of Gulchohra Shafieva (film director), Sevda Alekbarzadeh (singer), Ilhama Gasimova (singer), Tunzala Gahraman (singer) and Saleh Bagirov (television presenter).

The members of the jury were Eldar Gasimov (singer, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2011), Tunzala Agayeva (composer and singer), Murad Arif (songwriter and television host), Stefan Örn (Swedish composer) and Jamil Guliyev (General Director of İTV).

"[18] Azerbaijani and Turkish versions of "Start a Fire", titled "Bir qığılcım" and "Alev Gibi", were later released respectively on 17 April and 1 May 2014.

[19][20] Dilara Kazimova made several appearances across Europe to specifically promote "Start a Fire" as the Azerbaijani Eurovision entry.

On 5 April, Kazimova performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Sandra Reemer.

[21] On 13 April, Kazimova took part in promotional activities in Lithuania where she appeared and performed during the LRT programmes Labas rytas, Lietuva and Dvi žvaigždės as well as the TV3 show Chorų karai.

[22][23][24] On 17 April, Kazimova took part in promotional activities in Hungary by appearing during the MTVA programmes Ma Reggel and Kívánságkosár.

[25] On 20 April, Kazimova performed during the Russian Pre-Party event, which was organised by ESCKAZ and held at the Karlson restaurant in Moscow, Russia.

[27] 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.

[28] On 20 January 2014, 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.

The performance was directed by Asa Engman and Piotr Torazawa Giro, which based the idea of the aerial act as an imaginary "point of view" from which a new meaning in ordinary life scenes can be found, representing the spiritual concept of a soul.

[33][34] The aerial acrobat that joined Dilara Kazimova on stage was Matleena Laine, while the backing vocalists were Jennie Jahn, Sofia Lindström and Lena Engman.

The jury consisted of five music industry professionals who were citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency.

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.

In addition, no member of a national jury could be related in any way to any of the competing acts in such a way that they cannot vote impartially and independently.