TRIUMPH "WITHOUT RUNNING SCARED"

We won! The next, 57t, International Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Baku! According to the results of SMS voting and the juries' decisions, Eldar Qasimov and Nigar Camal gained 221 points! We received the highest points (12) from Russia, Turkey and Malta.

The struggle for top spot was between Azerbaijan, Italy and Sweden. In the semi-finals, Turkey and Armenia dropped out of the race along with some other countries. Incidentally, Armenia has already issued a statement refusing to take part in the contest which will be held in Baku next May. Well, they cannot lose with dignity... The semi-finals were watched not only by viewers from 43 countries of Europe, but also Internet users - the concert was broadcast online on the official website of Eurovision www.eurovision.tv. This year's contest was held under the motto "Feel Your Heart Beat". The Azerbaijani contestants, Eldar Qasimov and Nigar Camal (Ell & Nikki), sang a ballad called "Running Scared" written by the Swedish authors Stefan ?rn, Sandra Bjurman and Iain Farguhanson. Our pair appeared onstage at the huge Esprit Arena stadium in white costumes, and the colour and design of the costumes was also chosen by Swedish designers. Nigar's dress was very reminiscent of the famous snow-white dress of Aysel who came third in the contest together with Arash two years ago. White clearly brings us luck. The whole of Europe believed in the love story of the Azerbaijani duo and led them to victory. 

The performances of the other participants in the first semi-finals left a mixed impression. Especially memorable were the numbers of Eric Saade from Sweden (I Will Be Popular), Slovak Maja Keuc (No One), Ukrainian Mika Newton (Angel), the Georgian rock band Eldrine (One More Day) and Greek Loucas Yiorkas (Watch My Dance). Bookmakers predicted a victory for the youngest tenor in Europe, Amaury Vassili of France. They bet on the French pop-opera so well that by the beginning of the finals, some bookmakers took bets on Vassili at the lowest odds. The guy does have a powerful voice, but in the final, probably from nerves, he "retired" into a different key, so much so that it was noticed even by those who have no ear for music. In reality, France did not even get into the top ten, receiving only 82 points, which was enough for 15th place. Among the contenders for first place were the brothers John and Edward Grimes of Ireland with the song "Lipstick". The lyrics of their song were overly lengthy and more like a collection of words - "She's got her lipstick on, here I come, da da dum", and then everything in the same spirit. Regardless of whether cartoon freaks are out of fashion or they just got unlucky, the skipjack boys eventually took only 8th place. Last year's Eurovision winner, Lena Meyer-Landrut, who also represented Germany this year, took 10th place, while the Russian "disturber of the peace", Aleksey Vorobev, only 16th. Italy, which suddenly decided to return to Eurovision after a 13-year hiatus this year, was initially almost an absolute outsider in the final race. Bookmakers bet negligible amounts on Raphael Gualazzi's probable place in the final top ten. And they turned out to be wrong: Italy finished second with a score of 189 points, leaving behind even the self-confident Swede, Eric Saade.

What was happening behind the scenes of Eurovision-2011? With regard to Azerbaijan, as a rule, it is almost always associated with Armenian provocations. This year, it happened on 13 May on Andrey Malakhov's popular show "Let Them Speak", devoted to the favourites of the Eurovision-2011 finals, on Russia's Channel One. Referring to Azerbaijan among the countries with the highest chances of winning, a clip about our country showed the flag of Armenia instead of the flag of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani TV viewers expressed their dissatisfaction and many of them sent letters to the editors of Channel One. Here is a quote from a letter from one Azerbaijani viewer: "Given the conflict situation between the two countries, this fact was negatively perceived by the public of Azerbaijan. In this regard, I consider it necessary to offer an official apology in the next edition of the programme for the mistake made in the video. Thank you in advance. I hope for your understanding and a prompt apology on television."

The National Broadcasting Council (NBC) of Azerbaijan also believes the mistake on Channel One was an Armenian provocation. "This could be a provocation organized by Armenians working at this channel to irritate the Azerbaijani audience," a member of the National Council, Qafar Cabiyev, said on 14 May.

At the same time, Cabiyev does not exclude that it might have been a technical error, but in any case, he said, it is a disgrace to the TV channel. "This channel, as Channel One, should organize its work at a professional level. You cannot play on the nerves and feelings of millions of representatives of one people," the member of the NBC said. He wondered why such errors are made in relation to Azerbaijan every time.

"Why do maps sometimes distort the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan? Let these channels show Yerevan with the Azerbaijani flag at least once. Why do such technical errors never occur in relation to Armenia?" Cabiyev said.

Meanwhile, despite all the provocative insinuations, Azer-baijan won - we are the first and Eurovision-2012 will be held in Azerbaijan.