1.
Azerbaijan
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Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a country in the South Caucasus region, situated at the crossroads of Southwest Asia and Southeastern Europe. It is bound by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bound by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic proclaimed its independence in 1918 and became the first democratic state in the Muslim orient world. The country was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920 as the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, the modern Republic of Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence on 30 August 1991, prior to the official dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. In September 1991, the Armenian majority of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region seceded to form the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, the region and seven adjacent districts outside it became de facto independent with the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994. These regions are recognized as part of Azerbaijan pending a solution to the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan is a unitary semi-presidential republic, the country is a member state of the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the NATO Partnership for Peace program. It is one of six independent Turkic states, a member of the Turkic Council. Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 158 countries and holds membership in 38 international organizations and it is one of the founding members of GUAM, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Its term of office began on 19 June 2006, Azerbaijan is also a member state of the Non-Aligned Movement, holds observer status in World Trade Organization and is a correspondent at the International Telecommunication Union. The Constitution of Azerbaijan does not declare an official religion and all political forces in the country are secularist. However, the majority of the population are of a Shiite Muslim background, Azerbaijan has a high level of human development which ranks on par with most Eastern European countries. It has a rate of economic development and literacy, as well as a low rate of unemployment. According to the Davos World Economic Forum, Azerbaijans economy has scored 37th place within 138 countries in 2016, Global Competitiveness Index 2015 indicates that Azerbaijan scores highest in its region. ASAN services, established with Presidential Decree, are known for eliminating bribery. ASAN Service has been awarded with United Nations Public Service Award 2015, the ruling party, the New Azerbaijan Party, has been accused of authoritarianism and human rights abuses. The original etymology of name is thought to have its roots in the once-dominant Zoroastrianism. In the Avesta, Frawardin Yasht, there is a mention of âterepâtahe ashaonô fravashîm ýazamaide, the name Atropates itself is the Greek transliteration of an Old Iranian, probably Median, compounded name with the meaning Protected by the Fire or The Land of the Fire
2.
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Contest. It was hosted in Belgrade, Serbia after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki and this year was the first time there were three contests, two semi-finals which were held on 20 and 22 May, and the traditional grand final which was held on 24 May 2008. The shows were hosted by Jovana Janković and Željko Joksimović at the Belgrade Arena which had a capacity of 25,000 seats. After a total of 272 points, Dima Bilan representing Russia was declared the winner, with the song Believe written by American Jim Beanz, so far this has been the only time Russia has won the contest. Russia came third in the semi-final, making it the winner with the worst semi-final result, ukraine were runners up for the second year running, with 3rd place going to Greece, 4th to Armenia seeing their best result so far and 5th to Norway. 2008 also saw, for the first time ever, Eurovision. tv streaming national finals live on ESCTV with broadcasters permission. On 30 January 2008, Eurovision. tv revealed the theme of the Contest, The Confluence of Sound, Serbia gained the right to host the Contest after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland. Since Serbia was the winner of the preceding contest, the 2008 contest was held there. The Belgrade Arena was chosen as the venue for the contest, on 14 September 2007, the Mayor of Helsinki handed over the Eurovision keys to the Deputy of Belgrade. This ceremony is meant to be a tradition from the 2008 contest and onward, ukraine was considered an option since they came second in Eurovision Song Contest 2007. YLE were another option, as hosted the previous years competition in Helsinki. Greeces Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi also offered the EBU to host the contest in Athens and it was later decided that the contest would stay in Belgrade, with the EBU giving support. RTS would gain a guarantee of safety and security from the government of Serbia for all visitors, the delegations of Albania, Croatia and Israel had special security. RTS ran a competition led to the creation of the 2008 Contests branding, logo. The theme of the Contest was based around the confluence of sound and this was symbolic as Belgrade lies on the confluence of two European rivers, the Sava and Danube. The logo chosen, a treble clef, formed the basis of the design created by Boris Miljković. The postcards in the first and second semi-final were based around the creation of the flag of the nation that was to perform next, each post card had a short story related to each country and its people. During each postcard a short letter was displayed, the postcards were brought to an end by a stamp with this years Eurovision logo
3.
Eurovision Song Contest 2011
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following Lenas win at the 2010 contest in Oslo and this was the first contest to take place outside of the host nations capital city since the 2004 contest in Istanbul. The event was held at the Esprit Arena, with semi-finals held on 10 and 12 May, Italy also returned to the Contest, marking its first participation since 1997. No country withdrew from the contest, the winner was Azerbaijan with the song Running Scared performed by Ell & Nikki. The runner up was Italy, and Sweden finished in third place,2010 Hosts Norway was eliminated in the first semi final. Azerbaijan obtained its first ever victory in any Eurovision since its debut in 2008, Azerbaijan won the viewers voting with Sweden in second place, and Greece in third place. Italy won the voting, with Azerbaijan in second place. This is the first time since the juries were reintroduced alongside the televoting in 2009 that the winner didnt place first in the juryvoting, the broadcast of the final won the Rose dOr award for Best Live Event. Following Lenas win at the 2010 contest with the song Satellite, twenty-three cities submit official bids to the German broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk, in order to be the host city for the 2011 contest. Eight of these continued to show interest in hosting the event including Berlin, Hamburg, Hanover, Gelsenkirchen, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Frankfurt. NDR announced on 21 August 2010 that four of those cities had officially applied to host the 2011 Contest, Berlin, Hamburg, Hanover, decision makers at NDR reportedly doubted the venues ability to provide advantageous acoustic conditions. Berlins speaker Richard Meng neither confirmed nor denied that because, he stated and this message indicated that talks with Düsseldorf to host the song contest in the Esprit Arena were already at an advanced stage. The club later announced on 6 October 2010 that it had obtained permission to move its games if necessary, the Neue Ruhr Zeitung newspaper reported on 12 December 2010 that Fortuna Düsseldorf were to be moved to the Paul-Janes-Stadion due to the contest. Fortuna Düsseldorfs training venue next to the Esprit Arena would be equipped with mobile stands from a Swiss event construction specialist, Nussli Group and this decision was made because the Arena Sportpark Düsseldorf holds better logistic qualifications. The Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf was announced by German broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk as the venue for the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest on 12 October 2010. This was the first Eurovision Song Contest held in Germany since German reunification and that the stadium acquired a rental period of six weeks, in order to allow construction and dismantling work within the Esprit Arena to be carried out. The stadium accommodated a capacity of 38,000 for spectators during the Eurovision Song Contest, Düsseldorf offered 23,000 hotel beds and 2,000 additional beds in the Düsseldorf surroundings and on ships on the River Rhine. The four countries that were part of the Big Four, along with the host of the contest, since Germany was both a Big Four country and the host for the 2011 contest, there was a vacant spot in the final
4.
Eurovision Song Contest
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The competition was based upon the existing Sanremo Music Festival held in Italy since 1951. The contest has been broadcast every year for sixty years, since its inauguration in 1956 and it is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Eurovision has also been broadcast outside Europe to several countries that do not compete, such as the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and China. An exception was made in 2015, when Australia was allowed to compete as a guest entrant as part of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the event. In November 2015, the EBU announced that Australia was invited back as a participant in the 2016 contest after their success in 2015, following their success again in 2016, Australia will compete again in 2017. Since 2000, the contest has also been broadcast over the Internet via the Eurovision website, winning the Eurovision Song Contest provides a short-term boost to the winning artists career, but rarely results in long-term success. Notable exceptions are ABBA, Bucks Fizz and Céline Dion, all of whom launched successful careers after their wins. Ireland holds the record for the highest number of wins, having won the contest seven times—including four times in five years in 1992,1993,1994 and 1996. Under the current voting system, the highest scoring winner is Jamala of Ukraine who won the 2016 contest in Stockholm, under the previous system, in place from 1975 to 2015, the highest scoring winner is Alexander Rybak of Norway with 387 points in 2009. Satellite television did not exist, and the Eurovision Network comprised a terrestrial microwave network, the name Eurovision was first used in relation to the EBUs network by British journalist George Campey in the London Evening Standard in 1951. The first contest was held in the town of Lugano, Switzerland, seven countries participated—each submitting two songs, for a total of 14. This was the only contest in more than one song per country was performed, since 1957. The 1956 contest was won by the host nation, Switzerland, the programme was first known as the Eurovision Grand Prix. This Grand Prix name was adopted by Denmark, Norway and the Francophone countries, the Grand Prix has since been dropped and replaced with Concours in French, but not in Danish or Norwegian. The Eurovision network is used to carry news and sports programmes internationally. However, in the minds of the public, the name Eurovision is most closely associated with the Song Contest, a country as a participant is represented by one television broadcaster from that country, typically, but not always, that countrys national public broadcasting organisation. The programme is hosted by one of the participant countries, during this programme, after all the songs have been performed, the countries then proceed to cast votes for the other countries songs, nations are not allowed to vote for their own song. At the end of the programme, the song with the most points is declared as the winner, the programme is invariably opened by one or more presenters, welcoming viewers to the show
5.
European Broadcasting Union
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The European Broadcasting Union is an alliance of public service media entities, established on 12 February 1950. As of 2015, the organisation comprises 73 active members in 56 countries, most EU states are part of this organisation and therefore EBU has been subject to supranational legislation and regulation. It also hosted debates between candidates for the European Commission presidency for the 2014 parliamentary elections but is unrelated to the institution itself and it is best known for producing the Eurovision Song Contest. EBU is a member of the International Music Council, Members of the EBU are radio and television companies, most of which are government-owned public service broadcasters or privately owned stations with public service missions. Active Members come from as far north as Iceland and as far south as Egypt, from Ireland in the west and Azerbaijan in the east, Associate Members are from countries and territories beyond Europe, such as Canada, Japan, Mexico, India, and Hong Kong. Associate Members from the United States include ABC, CBS, NBC, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Time Warner, and the only individual station, Chicago-based classical music station WFMT. Active Members are those paying EBU members meeting all technical criteria for full membership, syria is an example of a country within the EBA not complying with all technical criteria for full membership, and thus it is currently only granted Associated Membership. The EBUs highest profile production is the Eurovision Song Contest, organised by its Eurovision Network, the countries represented in the EBU also co-operate to create documentaries and childrens programming. Most EBU broadcasters have a deal to carry the Olympics. Another annually recurring event which is broadcast across Europe through the EBU is the Vienna New Years Concert, the theme music played before EBU broadcasts is Marc-Antoine Charpentiers Prelude to Te Deum. It is well known to Europeans as it is played before and after the Eurovision Song Contest, the EBU was a successor to the International Broadcasting Union that was founded in 1925 and had its administrative headquarters in Geneva and technical office in Brussels. It fostered programming exchanges between members and mediated disputes between members that were mostly concerned with frequency and interference issues. It was in effect taken over by Nazi Germany during the Second World War, france proposed that it would have four votes with the inclusion of its North African colonies. Great Britain felt it would have influence with just one vote. On 27 June 1946 the alternative International Broadcasting Organisation was founded with 26 members, the following day the IBU met in General Assembly and an attempt was made to dissolve it but failed, though 18 of its 28 members left to join the IBO. For a period of time in the late 1940s both the IBU and IBO vied for the role of organising frequencies but Britain decided to be in involved in neither, the BBC attempted but failed to find suitable working arrangements with them. However, for practical purposes the IBO rented the IBU technical centre in Brussels, in August 1949 a meeting took place in Stresa, Italy but it resulted in disagreement between delegates on how to resolve the problems. One proposal was for the European Broadcasting Area to be replaced by one that would exclude Eastern Europe, after Stresa, a consensus emerged among the Western Europeans to form a new organisation and the BBC proposed it be based in London
6.
Caucasus
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The Caucasus /ˈkɔːkəsəs/ or Caucasia /kɔːˈkeɪʒə/ is a region at the border of Europe and Asia, situated between the Black and the Caspian seas. It is home to the Caucasus Mountains, which contain Europes highest mountain, politically, the Caucasus region is separated between northern and southern parts. The southern parts consist of independent sovereign states, and the parts are under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation. The region is known for its diversity, aside from Indo-European and Turkic languages, the Kartvelian, Northwest Caucasian. Pliny the Elders Natural History derives the name of the Caucasus from Scythian kroy-khasis, German linguist Paul Kretschmer notes that the Latvian word Kruvesis also means ice. According to German philologists Otto Schrader and Alfons A. Nehring, the South Caucasus region and southern Dagestan were the furthest points of Persian expansions, with areas to the north of Caucasus Mountains practically impregnable. The mythological mountain of Qaf, the worlds highest mountain that ancient lore shrouded in mystery, was said to be situated in this region, therefore, the Caucasus might be associated with the legendary mountain. The Ciscaucasus contains the majority of the Greater Caucasus Mountain range. It includes Southwestern Russia and northern parts of Georgia and Azerbaijan, the Transcaucasus is bordered on the north by Russia, on the west by the Black Sea and Turkey, on the east by the Caspian Sea, and on the south by Iran. It includes the Caucasus Mountains and surrounding lowlands, all of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are in South Caucasus. The main Greater Caucasus range is generally perceived to be the line between Asia and Europe. The highest peak in the Caucasus is Mount Elbrus in the western Ciscaucasus in Russia, the Caucasus is one of the most linguistically and culturally diverse regions on Earth. The nation states that comprise the Caucasus today are the post-Soviet states Georgia, Armenia, three territories in the region claim independence but are recognized as such by only a handful or by no independent states, Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are recognised by the majority of independent states as part of Georgia, the Russian divisions include Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai, and the autonomous republics of Adygea, Karachay–Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan. The region has many different languages and language families, there are more than 50 ethnic groups living in the region. Russian is used as a common language, today the peoples of the Northern and Southern Caucasus tend to be either Eastern Orthodox Christians, Oriental Orthodox Christians, or Sunni Muslims. Shia Islam has had many adherents historically in Azerbaijan, located in the part of the region. Located on the peripheries of Turkey, Iran, and Russia, the region has been an arena for political, military, religious, throughout its history, the Caucasus was usually incorporated into the Iranian world
7.
Ell & Nikki
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Ell & Nikki, also known as Eldar & Nigar, are an Azerbaijani pop duo consisting of singers Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal. On 14 May 2011 they won the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 for Azerbaijan with their entry Running Scared and it was the countrys first ever win at the contest. Although Nigar Jamal represented Azerbaijan, she lives in Enfield, North London, Gasimov and Jamal separately took part in the Azerbaijani national selection, Milli Seçim Turu 2011. Although it was planned to send an individual as Azerbaijan. In the 2011 Eurovision song contest Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal performed together under the duo name Ell & Nikki, as the contest was taking place in a Western European country, the name change was made to prevent confusion of Jamals first name being interpreted as a racial slur. Their entry, named Running Scared, was written by Stefan Örn and Sandra Bjurman from Sweden, the duo were aided significantly by the four Swedish backing singers, including Jessica Marberger and Vera Prada who had earlier in the year attempted to represent Sweden as part of Shirleys Angels. They were the winners of the Eurovision final on 14 May which meant that Azerbaijan has the right to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. Since winning the Eurovision final 2011, Jamal and Gasimov travelled to many European countries to perform their entry in the contest. The singers also received Peace and Friendship Award in Zonguldak’s Ereğli district for carrying a Turkish flag onstage during final scene, Azerbaijan issued a postage stamp dedicated to Azerbaijan’s victory with Gasimov and Jamal at Eurovision. In 2011, Ell and Nikki became the faces of Nar Mobile. In 2013, the duo recorded their second song named Musics Still Alive, the song was written as a tribute to Michael Jackson and released on 29 August 2013, the late singers birthday. Both Gasimov and Jamal describe themselves as Jackson fans, official website Running Scared, Eurovision 2011 Winning Song
8.
Running Scared (Eldar & Nigar song)
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Running Scared is a song performed by Azerbaijani duo Eldar & Nigar. It won the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 for Azerbaijan, held in Düsseldorf, the song was performed in, and qualified from, the first semi-final on 10 May. It was performed in the final on 14 May, and won with 221 points, Ell and Nikki were the first mixed-gender duo to win the contest since 1963 and the first winners from Azerbaijan. Prior to the release of Running Scared, neither singer had performed in a duo, according to Eldar Gasimov, at the initial stage, both singers were unsure of the success of such a project. Running Scared was chosen from among 70 submissions coming from both Azerbaijan and abroad which were received by ITV within four weeks from January 10, Eldar Gasimov stated that the song was a perfect common ground for the singers varying styles, voices and spirits. The authors of the song are Stefan Örn, Sandra Bjurman from Sweden together with Iain Farquharson from the UK, Örn and Bjurman are also authors of the song Drip Drop, which represented Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. Acoustic and remix versions of the song were made by German DJ Azzido Da Bass in late April 2011. Running Scared set a new record for lowest average score on a Eurovision winner, earning 5.26 points per jury and breaking the record held by Helena Paparizous My Number One. The official videoclip for Running Scared was released on 11 April 2011 and was directed by Tarmo Krimm and it was preceded by a promotional video released earlier in March. Krimm, who was also the producer of the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 held in his native Estonia, won the right to direct this videoclip after submitting his proposal in February 2011. The video was shot in southern Crimea, the videoclip features Ell taking photographs of Nikki as she appears sitting on a cliff with a Labrador Retriever and these scenes are interrupted by shots of Ell and Nikki singing both separately and together. In the end, Ell is shown climbing up the cliff while Nikki looks at him tenderly, Facebook Page, Running Scared Eldar & Nigar - Eurovision 2011 Winners Eldar & Nigar official website Running Scared Video at Eldar&Nigars official website Eldar & Nigar Official Facebook Page
9.
AzTV
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AzTV or Azerbaijan Television is a state-controlled national television channel in Azerbaijan. It is the oldest television channel in the country, having first broadcast from Baku on 14 February 1956 in what was then the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. The channel has been owned since 2005 by the Azerbaijan Television and Radio Broadcasting Closed Joint-stock Company and this company also owns the channels İdman Azərbaycan TV and Mədəniyyət TV. In 2007, an application by AzTV to join the European Broadcasting Union was rejected after the channel was found to be too closely associated with the ruling government, programming on AzTV primarily consists of news, talk shows, documentaries, music shows, and feature films
10.
Eurovision Song Contest 2007
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was won by first-time appearance as an independent country Serbia and was held at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland earned the right to host the event after heavy metal band Lordis victory at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. It was the first time the Contest had been held in Finland, a budget of €13 million was presented for arranging the contest. Other bids to host the contest came from Espoo, Turku, the hosts were Finnish television personality Jaana Pelkonen and Finnish musician, stage performer and actor Mikko Leppilampi. Krisse Salminen acted as guest host in the room. A record number of 42 countries participated, the European Broadcasting Union put aside its limit of 40 countries, which would have meant excluding some countries using a ranking order scheme. This trend continued at the 2008 and 2009 Contests, on 12 March 2007, the draws for the running order for the semi-final, final and voting procedure took place. A new feature allowed five wild-card countries from the semi-final and three countries from the final to choose their starting position, the heads of delegation went on stage and chose the number they would take. In the semi-final, Austria, Andorra, Turkey, Slovenia and Latvia were able to choose their positions, in the final, Armenia, Ukraine and Germany were able to exercise this privilege. All countries opted for spots in the half of both evenings. Shortly after the draw, the entries were approved by the EBU, the United Kingdom chose their entry after the deadline because they were granted special dispensation from the EBU. The contest saw some changes to the voting time-frame. The compilation summary video of all entries including phone numbers was shown twice, the voting process was the same as 2006 except there was fifteen minutes to vote, an increase of five minutes on the 2006 Contest. In the final, the results from each country were once again shown from one to seven points automatically on screen and only eight, ten and twelve were read by the spokespeople. For the first time, the winner was awarded a promotion tour around Europe, visiting Denmark, Spain, Sweden, the tour was held between 16 May and 21 May. The event was sponsored by European communications group TeliaSonera, and — as with several previous contests — Nobel Biocare, apocalyptica were the interval act, and played a medley of songs, Worlds Collide, Faraway and finally Life Burns. The official logo of the contest remained the same as 2006, the stage was in the shape of a kantele, a traditional Finnish instrument. On 20 February 2007 a reworked official website for the contest was launched marking the first public exhibition of this years theme, an official CD and DVD were released
11.
Samir Javadzadeh
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Samir Javadzadeh is an Azerbaijani pop singer. He was selected as the Azerbaijani representative, along with Elnur Hüseynov, Samir Javadzadeh graduated from university with a degree in business in 2002. In 2003, he finished five-year courses in music, specializing in mugham, after serving in the army for a year, he became a member of the pop band Sheron for the next three years and eventually started pursuing solo career. Originally, Samir Javadzadeh was not named among those who competed to represent Azerbaijan at Eurovision. On 2 February 2008, the jury chose Elnur Hüseynov over two other candidates, and it was revealed that the winning song Day After Day would be performed as a duet by Hüseynov. In July 2012, Javadzadeh announced his plans to get married, Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
12.
Always (Aysel and Arash song)
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Always is a song by Azerbaijani singer Aysel Teymurzadeh and Swedish-Iranian singersongwriter Arash. It was the Azerbaijani entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2009, the song was selected by Ictimai TV, the Azerbaijani broadcaster, among the 30 songs submitted to the broadcaster in an open call. The song was composed by a group of songwriters including Arash, the video clip for the song was directed by Swedish director Fredrik Boklund and premiered on Ictimai TV on 24 April 2009. Boklund described the video as visual rendition of the performers emotions and it notably featured tar, a traditional Azeri musical instrument. Likewise the instrument briefly appeared on stage in Arashs hands during the performance of Always at Eurovision. AySel & Arash performed 12th in the second Eurovision semi-final on 14 May, following Hungarys Zoli Ádok with Dance with Me, the duo received 180 points, placing second behind Norways Alexander Rybak, and proceeding to the final. At the final the duo performed 11th in the draw, following Russias Anastasiya Prikhodko with Mamo and preceding Bosnia and they received 207 points, placing 3rd behind Norways Alexander Rybak and Icelands Yohanna. Always is Azerbaijans first top 3 placing, by July 21,2013, the preview videoclip for Always had been played on YouTube over 18 million times. In January 2010, Tophit. ru reported that Always had become the second most selling ringtone in Ukraine, turkish – Digital single Always –3,03 Always –4,09 Always. AySel & Arash official website BBC, aySel & Arash – Always – Azerbaijan 2009
13.
Aysel Teymurzadeh
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Aysel Teymurzadeh is an Azerbaijani pop and R&B singer. Aysel was born in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, the youngest of the three daughters of a journalist and university professor and she is a descendant of the nineteenth-century Azerbaijani author and journalist Hasan bey Zardabi. Her maternal grandmother was half-Russian, half-Ukrainian, Aysel started to sing at the age of four and the piano became her passion since childhood. Aysel graduated from the Intellect Lyceum in Baku and attended Texas High School in 2005–2006, within days of her arrival in the United States, she signed up for the local choir and began training for young vocalists competitions. While in the U. S. Aysel won three medals at contests held in the Southern Arkansas University and in the University of Texas at Austin. In 2005, she participated in Season 4 of the song contest Yeni Ulduz. As of January 2009, Teymurzadeh was majoring in International Relations at the Azerbaijan University of Languages, in January 2009, Teymurzadeh was selected internally by İTV to represent Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia along with Iranian-Swedish singer Arash with the song Always. Aysel became the first female singer to represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest, on May 16,2009, Aysel Teymurzadeh and Arash finished third with 207 points, among the 25 performers that qualified for the Eurovision grand final. Aysel together with Arash became the winner of the 4th Annual ESC Radio Awards in the category of the Best Group, on May 28, Teymurzadeh announced going on a European tour with Arash, involving concerts in countries such as Sweden, Greece and Russia. Upon return she announced that together with Arash and his team she is working on an album, the date of release is unknown. She starred in a high-profile TV commercial for Danone yogurts, which was broadcast on Azerbaijani, in 2012, Aysel Teymurzadeh was among five musicians from Azerbaijan chosen as the jury in the Danish national selection of the 2012 Eurovision contestant. In May 2012, Teymurzadeh got engaged to Murad Adigozalov,39, director of the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Society, according to some sources, her plan after marriage is to leave the big stage and only perform on official events. In December 2012, Teymurzadeh gave birth to the couples first child, in May 2014, it was reported that Aysel Teymurzadeh was five months pregnant with the couples second child. In June 2016, it known that Teymurzadeh waiting for a third child
14.
Arash (singer)
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Alex Arash Labaf is an Iranian-Swedish singer, entertainer and producer of Azerbaijani origin. Arash Labaf was born in Tehran, Iran, at age ten, he and his family moved to Sweden, where he still resides. In an interview with BBC Persian Television, he has mentioned that his mother and father are from the Iranian cities of Shiraz and Isfahan, also in one of his interviews, he stated his great grandfather is Iranian Azerbaijani. In an interview with Arash emphasized, My great-grandfather was an Azeri so I always feel my Azerbaijani roots, in another interview Arash stated he is originally Azerbaijani. Arash has said that the reason he chooses to sing in his language is because of his deep attachment to Iran and Persian culture. His debut album, Arash, was released by the Warner Music Sweden in June 2005 and his singles, Boro Boro and Temptation made it to the hit lists around Europe, and their respective videos garnered significant airplay on more than 20 MTV outlets across the world. His singles have charted many times on Swiss and Finnish charts, arashs records were certified gold in 5 countries, his album Arash in Germany, Russia, Slovenia and Greece and single Boro Boro in Sweden. This song was featured in the Hindi Bollywood film Bluffmaster. Helena did not take part in the video of Pure Love. The video was starred by Arash, together with the Venezuelan beauty queen, Arash has produced along with Thomas G, son, Robert Uhlmann, and Johan Bejerholm the Swedish entry to the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2010 Allt jag vill ha that was performed by Josefine Ridell. In early 2009, it was revealed that the Azerbaijani entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 would be the song Always which was written, the song was performed by Aysel Teymurzadeh and Arash in a duet in Semifinal 2 of the Eurovision competition. The song qualified for the Eurovision Song Contest final which took place on 16 May 2009, in one of his interviews Arash explained his decision to represent Azerbaijan in this contest, Why did I take part in the contest. Im originally Azerbaijani, and I would like to have a part in this countrys confident ascent in the history of Eurovision, Labaf married his longtime fiancée, Behnaz Ansari, in Dubai in May 2011. On 22 April 2012 they became the parents of twins
15.
Sabina Babayeva
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Sabina Babayeva is an Azerbaijani singer. A graduate of the Asaf Zeynally Music School in Baku with a degree in vocal arts and she is known in Azerbaijan as the singer of Roya kimi, theme song of the 2003 Azerbaijani television series Bayaz hayat. A veteran contestant in the Azerbaijani national selection, she has applied to represent Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest every year since the debut in 2008. In 2011, she came third in her heat, prior to being selected, Sabina Babayeva recorded the song Sikhvarulis tamashi in duo with Anri Jokhadze who represented Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. As part of her tour, Sabina performed in London, Amsterdam. At Eurovision, she came in fourth, the highest rank for a host country contestant since the introduction of the semi-finals and she also received the Marcel Bezençon Press Award for her performance of When the Music Dies. In 2012, Babayeva was admitted to a programme at the Baku Academy of Music. In 2014, Babayeva was the spokesperson for the Azerbaijani voting for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen and she considers, rival, Engelbert Humperdinck one of her favourite singers and has expressed an interest in singing a duet with him. On 30 July 2012, it was announced that Babayeva had got engaged and her alleged fiancé Javidan Sharifov, who was said to be six years her junior, is a program director on Ictimai TV and former participant of the reality show Gafas. The couple was reported to have been dating for a year, Sabina Babayeva refuted these claims immediately, adding she was appaulled by the unprofessionalism of the media reporters. Despite her reaction, the wedding did in fact take place on 26 September 2012, in January 2016, she gave birth to a son she named Ali. Azerbaijani folk music Azerbaijani pop music Azerbaijani jazz
16.
Farid Mammadov
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Farid Mammadov is an Azerbaijani singer. He represented Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö with the song Hold Me, Mammadov was born in Baku, to Asif Mammadov, a professional judoka and amateur rock musician, and Maya Mammadova, a silver-winning Soviet gymnast. Farid Mammadov is currently a student of the Azerbaijan State University of Culture, since childhood, Mammadov sang in the Bulbul ensemble managed by Aybaniz Hashimova. For a long time he was a soloist of this ensemble and he has been interested in soul and jazz since age 8 and cites Stevie Wonder as a major influence. Mammadov is the author of Gal yanima, one of the songs which he performed during the Azerbaijani Eurovision selection tour, besides music, he also practices Greco-Roman wrestling and capoeira. Mammadov was the first male singer to represent Azerbaijan in the contest. His performance was staged by Fokas Evangelinos, a Greek choreographer who directed the Eurovision performances of Sakis Rouvas, Azerbaijan placed 2nd in the 2013 competition, receiving ten 12-point scores and 234 points. For the first time in the history of Azerbaijans participation in the Eurovision Song Contest was awarded the Marcel Bezençon Artist Awards
17.
Ilham Aliyev
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Ilham Aliyev is the fourth and current President of Azerbaijan, in office since 2003. He also functions as the Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party, Aliyev was born was born in December 24,1961, in Baku. In 1977, Aliyev entered the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, in 1985 he received a PhD degree in history. From 1985 to 1990 Aliyev lectured at MSUIR, from 1991 to 1994, he led a group of private industrial-commercial enterprises. In 1994-2003, he was the vice-president, and later the first vice-president of the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan and he had been actively involved in the implementation of Heydar Aliyev’s oil strategy. He is an author of research works on geopolitical aspects of oil strategy of sovereign Azerbaijan. He holds a degree of doctor of political sciences, since 1997, Mr. Ilham Aliyev is the President of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan. Ilham Aliyev married Mehriban Pashayeva in Baku on 22 December 1983 and they have three children, Leyla, Arzu and Heydar. Apart from his native Azerbaijani, he is fluent in English, French, Russian, Ilham Aliyev is the son of Heydar Aliyev, who was President of Azerbaijan from 1993 to 2003. In May or June 1994, Ilham Aliyev was appointed as vice-president of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, in 1995, Aliyev was elected to the Parliament of Republic of Azerbaijan, later he became president of the National Olympic Committee. From 2001 to 2003, Aliyev was the elected as the head of Azerbaijani delegation to Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe, following that, in January 2003, he was elected as Deputy-Chairman and bureau member of PACE. In April of 2004, Mr. Aliyev was awarded a medal and diploma of honorable member of PACE for his participation in PACE events. In August 2003, two prior to the presidential elections, he was appointed as Prime Minister. The official results of the October 15,2003, elections gave victory to Ilham Aliyev, Ilham Aliyev was re-elected in 2008 with 87% of the polls, while opposition parties boycotted the elections. In a constitutional referendum in 2009, term limits for the presidency were abolished, the opposition claimed this to be a violation of the Azerbaijani constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. The 2010 parliamentary elections produced a Parliament completely loyal to Aliyev, the Economist subsequently scored Azerbaijan at 140th place in its 2011 Democracy Index. Repeated protests were staged against Aliyevs rule in 2011, calling for more democracy, well over 400 violent protestors were arrested after protests began in March 2011. Opposition leaders, including Musavats Isa Gambar, vowed to continue demonstrating, Amnesty International in its Media Briefing of 2012 reported that the crackdown on the free speech has intensified in recent years
18.
Eurovision Song Contest 2009
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and was hosted by Russia after their win in 2008. It took place between 12 and 16 May 2009 at the Olympic Indoor Arena in Moscow, Russia, third place went to Azerbaijan, fourth to Turkey, and the United Kingdom taking 5th, seeing their best placing since 2002. Forty-two countries participated in the contest, Slovakia announced that it would return to the contest, Latvia and Georgia originally announced their intention to withdraw, but it was later stated by the European Broadcasting Union that both countries would indeed participate. However, Georgia later decided to withdraw after the EBU rejected its selected song as being a breach of contest rules, the contest was held in Russia following its victory in the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia, with Dima Bilans Believe. Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia, stated that the contest would be held in Moscow and it was proposed by Channel One that the contest be held in Moscows Olympic Indoor Arena, and this proposal was evaluated by the European Broadcasting Union and confirmed on 13 September 2008. The Director-General of the venue, Vladimir Churilin, refuted rumours of emergency reconstruction of the building, saying and we now can take up to 25 thousand spectators. The contest final took place on 16 May 2009 at the Olympic Indoor Arena in Moscow, thirty-seven countries participated in one of the two semi-finals of the contest, with the Big Four countries and the host pre-qualified for the final. In addition to those pre-qualified, the final included the ten selected countries from each semi-final. However, it was confirmed that the Big Four countries would continue to qualify for the final at the 2009 contest. Host broadcaster Channel One presented the sub-logo and theme for the 2009 contest on 30 January 2009, the sub-logo is based upon a Fantasy Bird, which can be used with many colours. As in previous years, the sub-logo was presented alongside the generic logo,2009 was the first year since 2001 that there was no slogan for the contest. The stage was designed by New York-based set designer John Casey, Casey, who had previously designed the stage for the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 in Dublin, was also involved in design teams for the 1994 and 1995 contests. He explained that even before worked with the Russians on the TEFI Awards in Moscow in 1998, was inspired by and drawn to art from the Russian Avant Garde period, especially the constructivists. Tried to come up with a design for the contest that incorporates Russian avant-garde art into a contemporary setting. Casey explained that together, the various LED shapes form the finished product, furthermore, large sections of the stage can move, including the circular central portion of curved LED screens, which can be moved to effect and allow each song to have a different feel. Finally a phrase in transliterated Russian and its English translation were shown, the music accompanying the postcards was written and produced by Matthew Herbert. On Friday 30 January 2009, the draw to decide which countries would appear in either the first or second semi-final took place, the participating countries excluding the automatic finalists were split into six pots, based upon how those countries have been voting. From these pots, half competed in the first Semi Final on 10 May 2009, the other half in that particular pot will compete in the second Semi Final on 12 May 2009
19.
Eurovision Song Contest 2010
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th annual Eurovision Song Contest, broadcast from the Telenor Arena in Bærum, Greater Oslo, Norway. Norway gained the rights to host the contest after achieving a record breaking victory in Moscow the previous year and it was the third time Norway had hosted the contest, having previously done so in 1986 and 1996. The 2010 winner was Germany with Lena singing Satellite, written by American Julie Frost and it was Germanys first win in twenty-eight years, its second since the Contests inception, and its first win as a unified country. It was also the first time a Big Four country won the contest since the introduction in 2000. The semi-finals took place on 25 and 27 May 2010 while the final was scheduled for 29 May 2010, the European Broadcasting Union announced that the voting system used in the semi-finals would change from previous years to balance jury voting with televoting. A return of accompaniment by orchestra was also proposed, but did not happen, thirty-nine countries took part in the contest, with Georgia returning after a one-year hiatus, and Andorra, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Montenegro withdrawing. Lithuania originally announced its withdrawal from the competition, but was later among the 39 participants confirmed by the EBU and this represents a larger budget than that allotted in the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, but is not as much as the budget in Moscow for 2009. The revised estimated cost for the now stands at 211 million kroner. At a press conference in Oslo on 27 May 2009, it was announced that the show was to be held in the Oslo metropolitan area, NRK argued that Oslo was the only city with the required capacity, venues, and infrastructure to hold the show. On 3 July 2009, it was decided that the venue would be the newly constructed Telenor Arena, the Oslo Spektrum was ruled out to host the contest due to its smaller size and capacity as was Valhall in Oslo and the Hamar Vikingskipet. The theme art, a series of intersecting circles, was selected to represent gathering people, in addition to the base colour of white, the logo was created in black, gold, and pink. A preview of the design was released on 6 May 2010, featuring no LED screens. The basic synopsis of the postcards is a group of little golden balls forms the shape of each country. Then, they move and form a screen where we can see a video of a little crowd from in a city of the country about to perform supporting and cheering their act. After that, a few seconds of the performer of the country getting ready in the stage are shown, and then, NRK announced the hosts of the contest on 10 March 2010. Those chosen were Erik Solbakken, Haddy Jatou Njie, and Nadia Hasnaoui, Solbakken and Njie opened the three shows, introduced the artists, and reported from the green room during the voting, with Hasnaoui presenting the voting section and scoreboard announcements. This was the time that more than two hosts were presenting the shows, after the 1999 Contest. This replaces the semi-final format used in the 2008 and 2009 contests in which the countries with the top nine highest points from the results in each semi-final qualified for the final
20.
Safura Alizadeh
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Safura Aliyeva is an Azerbaijani singer, actress and saxophonist. Aliyeva took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, where she brought Azerbaijan on 5th place and she later released her debut album, Its My War, which made its way into several European countries. Her second debut single March On was released in September, Safura Aliyevas father is a professional painter and her mother is a pianist and a fashion designer. Aliyeva began singing when she was young and made her first stage appearance at age 6. In the course of her career, she sang in childrens bands Sharg Ulduzlari, Alizadeh took up violin lessons at the Baku Musical School No 2 but later also learned to play the piano and the saxophone. She became the winner of the national contest Yeni Ulduz, since the eighth grade Safura has been studying at the school no.23 in Baku. Safuras saxophone playing was praised by composer Farhad Badalbeyli, who described it as brilliant, on 2 March 2010, Alizadeh won the Azerbaijani national final decided by jury and represented Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, which was held in Oslo, Norway. Alizadeh performed at the contest with the song Drip Drop, written by Anders Bagge, Stefan Örn, shortly after she performed on the concert in Ukraine and exchanged wishes with Ukrainian performer Vasyl Lazarovych. The video for the song was directed by a known film director Rupert Wainwright, and choreographed by JaQuel Knight. Knight also designed the choreography of Safuras stage performance in Oslo, on 1 May 2010, Safura began her promotional tour, and visited Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and Sweden. On 24 May she visited joint Ukraine—Germany party, attended by Alyosha, after Meyer-Landruts performance Safura gave a native Azerbaijani mat for Alyosha and an ancient horse shoe for luck to Lena. After performing in the Semi-Final of the Eurovision on 27 May 2010 she qualified for the two days later, where she came in fifth. On May 28, Safura took part in the celebration of Azerbaijans Republic Day, the singer performed in Bydgoszcz Hit Festival with the song Drip Drop. She was the spokesperson of the Azeri voting in Eurovision Song Contest 2011 and 2012 Safura has signed a five-year contract with the Swedish record company Euteria. Her first album, titled Its My War, was released on 18 June 2010, Drip Drop was the first single released from Its My War. The second single to be released from Its My War was confirmed to be March On and she noted the possibility of seeking a contract with another European company. Its My War On 5 July 2013, Safura married Farhad Aliyev, son of Azerbaijans Minister of Industry and she joined the ruling New Azerbaijan Party in 2011
21.
Drip Drop
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Alizadehs song was selected by a jury from the Azeri broadcaster İctimai Televiziya və Radio Yayımları Şirkəti. On May 29,2010 Drip Drop gained the place at the Eurovision 2010 final. Euromedia and Luxen Group of Companies on behalf of İTV received many offers for Drip Drop. Taking a selective attitude, they approached DJs Maverick and Alex Guerrero for the assignment and their remixes went in rotation on various European radio stations. Željko Joksimović was asked to make a Balkan version of the song, European CD single Drip Drop 3,42 Soulless 3,10 Gonna Let You Know 3,37 The shooting personnel included the video director Rupert Wainwright, choreographer Charles Lawrence and stylist Tanya Gill. All were invited to Ukraine on behalf of İTV by the Euromedia, the shooting took place in Kiev on the weekend of April 16 and lasted 37 hours with Safura being accompanied by Ukrainian dancers. The music video was presented on April 29,2010, in April 2010 BIP Records released Drip Drop as a digital single in Belgium and the local radio channel MNM added the song to its playlist. The video is focused on irresistible love, Safura risked drowning during the shoot of the music video. Official music video Official version and remixes
22.
Eurovision Song Contest 2012
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following Ell & Nikkis win at the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, the contest was held at the newly constructed Baku Crystal Hall, with semi-finals held on 22 and 24 May 2012, followed by the final held on 26 May 2012. The contest was won by singer Loreen from Sweden with the song Euphoria—written by Thomas G, son and Peter Boström, russia finished in second place, with Serbia finishing in third. They were followed by the host country, Azerbaijan, which reached the 4th place, albania finished 5th, achieving its first top 5 placing. Germany, Italy and Spain were the three members of the Big Five that managed to rank within the top 10, finishing in 8th, 9th and 10th places respectively. Azerbaijan got the right to host the 2012 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest after winning the previous 2011 edition with the song Running Scared performed by Ell & Nikki. Shortly after Azerbaijans victory at the 2011 edition, officials announced that a new 23,000 seat concert venue was to be built near National Flag Square in Baku, as a potential venue for the event. Three days later, other options were revealed by organisers, such as the 37, 000-seat Tofiq Bahramov Stadium. On 2 August 2011, Alpine Bau Deutschland AG was awarded the contract to construct the Baku Crystal Hall, preparations for construction began in the area shortly after the announcement. Even though the full cost of the contract was not named, on 8 September 2011, Azad Azerbaijan TV reported that Baku Crystal Hall would be the venue of the contest, but no formal confirmation was made at the time by the EBU. On 25 January 2012, it was confirmed that the Baku Crystal Hall would be the venue of the contest, even though the venue had an extended capacity of 23,000 people, only 16,000 people were able to attend each show. Tickets for the contest became available online for purchase on 28 February 2012, the results format of each show remained the same with each countrys votes being decided on a 50,50 split between televoting and a national jury. Each participating country had their own jury, which consisted of five professional members of the music industry. Under the official released on 24 November 2011, the number of participants in the final was raised to 26, including the host nation, the Big Five. This was the time in the Eurovision Song Contest that 26 countries were in the final. The draw that determined the semi-final running order was held on 25 January 2012 at the Buta Palace, the participating countries, excluding the automatic finalists, were split into six pots, based upon how those countries voted in past contests. From these pots, half competed in the first semi-final on 22 May 2012, the other half in that particular pot competed in the second semi-final on 24 May 2012. 1. ^ Armenia withdrew approximately a month and a half after the allocation draw
23.
When the Music Dies
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When the Music Dies is a song by singer Sabina Babayeva. It represented Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, coming fourth overall with a total of 150 points. The studio work on the song involved, among others, renowned Azerbaijani mugham singer Alim Qasimov, the song was selected on 17 March through internal selection and the song video was released on 19 March. Babayeva released the Azerbaijani version of the song called Gəl on 13 April 2012
24.
Eurovision Song Contest 2013
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following Loreens win at the 2012 contest in Baku and it was the fifth time that Sweden had hosted the contest, the last time being in 2000. Sveriges Television chose Malmö Arena as the following the consideration of several venues in Sweden. The host for the contest was Petra Mede, thirty-nine countries participated, including Armenia, which was last represented in 2011. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Portugal, Slovakia and Turkey announced their withdrawal from the 2013 Contest, compared to many of the previous contests in the history of Eurovision, rather than focusing on promoting its own country, Sweden chose to lay focus on the artists and their respective countries. The winner for 2013 was Denmark with the song Only Teardrops sung by Emmelie de Forest and this makes it the second time that Denmark won on Swedish soil. Ukraine finished in place and Norway in fourth, while Russia finished in fifth place. Out of the countries with the Big Five status, only Italy managed to finish in the top ten, third in a row since its return, coming seventh with 126 points, the Netherlands finished ninth in their first participation in a final since 2004. 170 million viewers watched the semifinals and final of the 2013 edition, for the first time since 1985, no country of the former Yugoslav federation participated in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. The concept sees all countries performing in the Grand Final present themselves with their flags before the contest begins. This year, the contestants entered the stage by walking across a bridge over the audience. The idea was continued the following years by Denmark and Austria, on 8 July 2012, the Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Television announced that Malmö Arena in Malmö would be the host venue for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest. This was the time after 1975,1985,1992 and 2000 that the competition was held in Sweden and the second time, after 1992. This were factors in the choice of Malmö Arena as the host venue, and Malmö as Swedens third-largest city by population after Stockholm and Gothenburg, Øresund bridge was eventually also used as the main artistic medium for the theme of the contest, as an expression of binding cultures. One alternative put forward in the Expressen, was to hold the competition at three different venues – the semi-finals in Gothenburg and Malmö, and the final in Stockholm. This proposal was dismissed as unfeasible by SVT, which declared that the contest would be hosted in one city. On 20 June 2012, it was announced that Gothenburg had withdrawn from the process due to the city being the host of the Göteborg Horse Show in late April 2013. There were also concerns about the availability of hotel rooms due to a variety of events taking place in the same time frame as the Eurovision Song Contest
25.
Eurovision Song Contest 2014
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following Emmelie de Forests win at the 2013 contest in Malmö and this was the third time that Denmark hosted the contest, the most recent previous occasion being in 2001. The two semi-finals took place on 6 May and 8 May 2014, and the final on 10 May 2014, the shows were presented by Lise Rønne, Nikolaj Koppel and Pilou Asbæk. The host broadcaster, DR, chose the B&W Hallerne as the host venue after considering several bids from cities and venues across Denmark, thirty-seven countries participated, this includes the return of Poland after a two-year absence and Portugal after a one-year absence. Overall, there were two countries competing compared to the previous year, making thirty-seven participants, the smallest number since 2006. Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Serbia announced their withdrawal from the 2014 Contest, San Marino and Montenegro both qualified for the final for the first time. The winner was Conchita Wurst with the song Rise Like a Phoenix, written by Charley Mason, Joey Patulka, Ali Zuckowski and this was Austrias first win in the competition since 1966. Jokes made about Wurst had sparked controversy, whilst Russia were booed several times during the contest, the Netherlands and Sweden finished second and third respectively with the former achieving their best result since their victory in the 1975 Contest. Armenia finished fourth, which equals their best result to date, while Hungary finished fifth, of the Big Five, only Ruth Lorenzo of Spain achieved a place in the top ten. A new record of 195 million viewers for the Eurovision Song Contest was reported, the host broadcaster, DR, and the EBU won the International TV Award at the Ondas Awards for their production of the contest. On 2 September 2013, Danish public broadcaster DR announced that it had chosen Copenhagen as the host city for the 2014 contest, the contest was held at the former shipyard Refshaleøen, in the B&W Hallerne, with the social networking hashtag #JoinUs as the motto. The mayor of Copenhagen, Frank Jensen, declared in late August that the city would contribute to the budget with 40 million. He also announced that the aim was to make the Eurovision 2014 into the greenest contest to date since Copenhagen had been elected European Green Capital for 2014. Five cities had been considered as host city of the contest, including Herning and Copenhagen, later, Fredericia and Aalborg entered the phase with the Messe C and Gigantium venues, respectively. The fifth city to join the phase was Horsens, with the venue being the courtyard of the former Horsens State Prison, in the event that Horsens had been chosen to host the contest, the courtyard would have been covered by a permanent glass roof. The contest was set to take place on 13,15 and 17 May 2014, however. On 17 June 2013, the municipality executive of Aalborg decided not to bid for hosting the contest due to the lack of sufficient hotel capacity. On 25 June 2013, the Municipality of Fredericia announced that the Triangle Region had withdrawn its bid on hosting the contest, DR required the hosting venue to have no pillars blocking any views and an interior height of at least 16 metres
26.
Dilara Kazimova
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Dilara Kazimova is an Azerbaijani singer and actress. She represented Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen with the song Start a Fire, born in Baku, Dilara Kazimova studied vocal arts at the Baku Academy of Music. After graduating, she performed as part of an opera troupe. From the early 2000s, she was a member of the rock band Unformal, in 2010, the duo Milk & Kisses represented Azerbaijan at the annual New Wave music festival in Jurmala, Latvia, but came 16th out of 17 contestants. In 2014, Dilara Kazimova participated in the Azerbaijani selection and won the competition, Start a Fire, the song with which Dilara represented Azerbaijan in Copenhagen, was released two weeks later, on 16 March 2014, at the same time as the video clip. Kazimova is currently a contestant of the Ukrainian reality talent show Holos Krayiny, svyatoslav Vakarchuk turned around his chair so he will be her coach and mentor for the duration of the show. Kazimova has also starred in two Azerbaijani films Try Not to Breathe in 2006 and Purgatory in 2007
27.
Start a Fire (Dilara Kazimova song)
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Start a Fire is a song by Azerbaijani singer Dilara Kazimova. It was chosen to represent Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Denmark, in the national final of Azerbaijan, Dilara Kazimova was chosen to represent Azerbaijan, the song was released two weeks later. The song was written by Stefan Örn, Alessandra Günthardt and Johan Kronlund, Stefan Örn was also a juror in the 2014 national Azerbaijani final. At Eurovision the song placed 22nd which is the first time Azerbaijan hasnt been in the top 10, the melody features the traditional Azeri musical instrument balaban. On 16 April 2014, the song was performed by Kazimova for the first time in Azeri, under the name Bir qığılcım and Turkish, start a Fire has received average scores in Europe. Daily Mirror entertainment writer Carl Greenwood gave the song 2 star out of 5 and said, it has the veneer of being a good song, the song received 6.76 out of 10 by the jury of Wiwibloggs
28.
Eurovision Song Contest 2015
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th anniversary edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest musical event. The contest took place in Vienna, Austria, following Austrian Conchita Wursts victory in the 2014 and this was the second time that Austria hosted the contest, the 1967 being the first. The 2015 contest consisted of two semi-finals, which place on 19 and 21 May, and a final, held on 23 May 2015. The shows were presented by Mirjam Weichselbraun, Alice Tumler and Arabella Kiesbauer while Conchita Wurst was hosting the green room, forty countries participated in the contest, with Australia making a guest appearance, and Cyprus, the Czech Republic, and Serbia returning. Ukraine, however, announced their withdrawal due to financial and political reasons around the Ukrainian crisis, once all the votes had been announced, based on 50% jury and 50% televoting, Sweden won the contest for the sixth time, with Måns Zelmerlöws song Heroes. Sweden became the first country to win the contest twice in the current format, and this was the second win in four years. Italy won the voting with Russia in second place. Sweden won the voting, with Latvia in second place. This is the first time since the juries were reintroduced alongside the televoting in 2009 that the winner didnt place first in the televoting, for the first time, the top four of the contest all scored 200 points or better. Russias entry A Million Voices became the first non-winning Eurovision song to score over 300 points, Austria and Germany became the first countries 2003 to score no points in the final. Austria is also the first host country to score nul points, the 2015 contest also saw the best ever result for Montenegro since its independence, and the Czech Republic. Also the top two countries of this contest were the same as the top two countries in the 2012, being Sweden and Russia, over 197 million viewers worldwide watched the contest, beating the 2014 viewing figures by 2 million. The Wiener Stadthalle hosts the annual Erste Bank Open tennis tournament, after Austrias victory in the 2014 Contest, their delegation revealed the possibility of hosting the contest either in the capital city, Vienna, or in Salzburg. Vienna, considered the front-runner, had two venues in the phase, Wiener Stadthalle and the trade centre, Messe Wien. Also in the race were Stadthalle Graz and Schwarzl Freizeit Zentrum, with a maximum capacity of 30,000, the Wörthersee Stadium in Klagenfurt also joined the race, however, it would require the construction of a roof for the contest to be hosted there. Innsbruck also joined the race with Olympiahalle, which hosted ice hockey, a fifth city, Linz, joined the race with Brucknerhaus, although the venue is not big enough for the contest. Being geographically close to Linz, Wels showed desire to host the event as well, oberwart, with the Exhibition hall, and Vorarlberg, with the Vorarlberger Landestheater, were the latest cities to declare an interest. On 29 May 2014, Austrian host public broadcaster ORF and the EBU released some requirements, ORF requested interested parties to respond by 13 June 2014
29.
Eurovision Song Contest 2016
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden, following Swedens victory at the 2015 in Vienna with the song Heroes and this was the third time the contest had taken place in Stockholm, after 1975 and 2000, the latter also being held at the Globe. The contest consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May and the final on 14 May 2016, with all three live shows hosted by Zelmerlöw and Petra Mede, the winner of the contest was Ukraine with the song 1944, performed by Jamala. This was Ukraines second win and its first since 2004 and it was also the first song with lyrics in Crimean Tatar to win or enter the contest. Forty-two countries participated in the contest, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia and Ukraine returned after absences from recent contests, while Australia also returned after debuting as a special guest in 2015. Twenty-six countries competed in the final, which was the first to be broadcast on television in the United States. In the final, Australia finished second, improving on its debut in 2015, while Bulgaria finished fourth, its best result since its debut, Justin Timberlake performed during the interval act of the final. A record-breaking 204 million viewers watched the contest, beating the 2015 viewing figures by over 5 million. The contest took place in the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, following Swedens victory at the 2015 contest in Vienna with the song Heroes, performed by Måns Zelmerlöw. The Ericsson Globe has a capacity of approximately 16,000 attendees, host broadcaster Sveriges Television announced on 24 May, the day after winning the 2015 contest, that the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm was their first choice venue. However, other cities and arenas were invited to apply, a press centre with a specific size had to be made available at the venue. A specific number of hotels and hotel rooms had to be available in the vicinity of the venue. The host city had to be near a major airport, an announcement regarding the venue was expected from SVT by midsummer, with the Ericsson Globe announced as the venue on 8 July. These were subject to change depending on SVT, but were confirmed when Stockholm was announced as the host city. Discussions were held in 2014 between the EBU and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union regarding the inclusion of a guest performance from the ABU TV Song Festival at the contest. The EBU confirmed on 16 July 2015 that they are looking into the possibility of the proposal, however, the EBU published the public rules of the contest on 28 October, which stated that the start time would remain at 21,00 CEST. The core team for the contest was announced by SVT and the EBU on 26 October, johan Bernhagen and Martin Österdahl were Executive Producers, while Tobias Åberg was Head of Production. The three live shows were directed by Sven Stojanović and the contest was produced by Christer Björkman, the EBU announced on 18 February 2016 that a new voting system would be implemented at the contest for the first time since 1975
30.
Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Ukraine has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 13 times since making its debut in 2003, winning twice. Ukraines first victory came in 2004 with Wild Dances by Ruslana, the 2005 contest was then held in the countrys capital, Kyiv. Its second victory at the 2016 contest with the song 1944 by Jamala, Ukraine made its debut in 2003, when Oleksandr Ponomaryov finished 14th. Ukraine won the contest at the attempt in 2004, when Ruslana won with the song Wild Dances, defeating second-placed Serbia. On 19 September 2014, state broadcaster NTU announced that it would sit out the 2015 Contest because of difficulties in relation to the ongoing Ukrainian crisis. However, Ukraine broadcast the contest despite not taking part, on 23 May 2015, Ukrainian Broadcaster NTU pledged to bring Ukraine back to the contest for 2016. On 16 September 2015, it was announced that Ukraine would return to the contest in 2016, on its return to the contest in 2016, Ukraine became the first Eastern European country to win the contest twice, when Jamala won with her song 1944. Since the introduction of the round in 2004, Ukraine has never failed to qualify for the final when they have participated. The country has a score of 143 points per contest,233 if including the semi-finals. If a country had won the year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year
31.
Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Russia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 20 times since their debut in 1994 and has participated every year since 2000. Russia is the country that has never missed the final since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004. Their debut was in the 1994 contest after Russia became a member of the European Broadcasting Union, in 2003,2007 and 2016 Russia placed 3rd, with t. A. T. u. According to unconfirmed information, Russia was required to submit Tatyana Ovsiyenko with the song My Sun, since the introduction of the semi-finals, Russia is the only country that has never missed a final. Russia won their first Eurovision Song Contest in 2008, when Dima Bilan, participating for the time in the contest, won with the song Believe. Russia was the most successful country in Eurovision in 2000-2009, with one win, however, in 2010 they finished 11th, and in 2011 they were 16th, which was the worst place for Russia since 1995. Interest in the fell, but in 2012 Buranovskiye Babushki finished in second place. Since 2008, there is an alternation on broadcast and selection, with Russia-1 on even years, ^ In 1996 Russia failed to qualify from the audio only pre-qualification round. The official Eurovision site does not count 1996 in Russias total list of appearances, ^ Russia was forced to sit out another year in 1999, as the EBU only allows countries which had broadcast the previous years contest to enter the next years contest. If a country won the year, they did not have to compete in Semi Finals. In addition, back in 2005-2007, countries who done well did not have to compete in Semi Finals the following year. co. uk
32.
Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Moldova has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 12 times, debuting in 2005. The debut year remains the countrys most successful result, with Zdob şi Zdub finishing sixth, the countrys only other top ten result was in 2007, when Natalia Barbu finished tenth. Moldova has reached the final eight out of twelve times, failing to get through in 2008,2014,2015 and 2016. Following the poor result in the 2006 contest, the Moldovan broadcaster, Teleradio-Moldova announced that it would withdraw from participation, however, in response to public pressure TRM filed the preliminary documents to compete and sent Natalia Barbu with song Fight. In 2008 Moldova, for the first time in 4 years of participating, failed to make the Final, their number, A Century of Love. In 2010 a saxophonist Sergey Stepanov from group SunStroke Project and Olia Tira has become internet phenomenon because of his 30-second saxophone solo, in 2011 Zdob şi Zdub represented Moldova for a second time in the contest, with the song So Lucky placing 12th in the final. This was the time that Moldova ended up 10th in the semifinal. In 2012, Pasha Parfeny represented Moldova, with the song Lăutar, placing 5th in the Semi Final, table key NOTE, If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. The other reason being that back in 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, as of 2016, Moldovas voting history is as follows, Moldova in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest Moldova-Gagauzia in the Türkvizyon Song Contest Points to and from Moldova eurovisioncovers. co. uk
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Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Turkey participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 34 times from their debut in 1975 with the song Seninle Bir Dakika performed by Semiha Yankı, to their withdrawal in 2013. Turkey has always qualified for the final, except the 2011 Contest. Since their debut in the two years Turkey finished last, they scored nul points, before 1997, the countrys only top ten result was achieved by Klips ve Onlar, who placed ninth in 1986. Turkey achieved six top five results between 1997 and 2010, winning once in 2003 with the song Everyway That I Can by Sertab Erener, in 2004, the home entry in Istanbul, For Real by Athena, placed fourth. In 2007, Shake It Up Şekerim by Kenan Doğulu also finished fourth, in 2008, the band Mor ve Ötesi placed seventh. In 2009, Hadise achieved another impressive result for Turkey, finishing in fourth place, in 2010, the nu metal band maNga, achieved Turkeys second best result in the contest, finishing second. Since the introduction of the free language rule as well as televoting, in 1997, Turkey finished third with the song Dinle by Şebnem Paker, who sung all the song in Turkish. The country sent a song partially in English for the first time in 2000 and completely in English in 2003, since 2000, Turkey has had seven entries completely sung in English and four bilingual songs. TRT announced on 14 December 2012 that they would not attend the 2013 competition in Malmö, in September 2013, Turkeys state broadcaster stated a return is unlikely for the 2014 competition, citing the same reasons. Also there was no television broadcast on TRT in 2013 and 2014, test transmissions started on TRT1 on 31 January 1968. A full national television schedule, which at that time linked the areas in and around Ankara, Istanbul, TRT renewed its membership in the European Broadcasting Union starting on 26 August 1972 with Turkeys first Eurovision Network event, a football match, on 13 January 1973. Turkish national broadcaster televised the Eurovision Song Contest between 1973 and 2012 incessantly, even in the years that they werent participating, Turkey debuted to the Eurovision Song Contest in the 1975 Contest, which is the 20th edition of the Contest and held in Stockholm, Sweden. Greece did not participate in the 1975 Contest for unknown reasons according to the EBU, TRT organized a national final for select the first ever Turkish entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest. The final took place on 9 February 1975 in the studios of TRT, the winning song was picked by averaging the ranks from the professional jury and peoples jury as Seninle Bir Dakika by Semiha Yankı. At the close of voting the song had received only 3 points from Monaco, in 1976, Greek entry aroused controversy as it was about the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This time Turkey withdrew from the Contest to protest the political background of the entry of Greece, Panagia Mou, Turkey didnt take part in the Contest until 1978. The 1979 Contest was held in the Israeli capital, Jerusalem, Turkish entry selected as Seviyorum by Maria Rita Epik but Arab countries compelled the Turkish government to withdraw from the Contest because of Arabs state of war with the host country, Israel. So Turkey withdrew from the Contest for the time in 1979
For the most recent participation see
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Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest
