ONCE MORE A DUET

Eldar Qasimov and Nigar Camal will represent Azerbaijan at the Eurovision-2011 song contest to be held in May in Dusseldorf, Germany.  The decision was reached by the jury after the final round of the national selection process on 11 February at the Azerbaijani Drama Theatre.  The results of the three-month-long televised marathon were predictable as early as a month before selection day.  But let us start from the beginning.

This year, the public broadcaster decided to follow in the footsteps of European countries and organize a nationwide selection round in the Pop Star TV show format, the winner to perform at Eurovision-2011.  Last year's winner Lena Mayer was chosen in Germany in the same way.  The 77 participants in the Azerbaijan Eurovision contest were divided into seven groups and given one week to prove themselves on stage and demonstrate their performing skills.  For one week the young performers sang in Azerbaijani and foreign languages.  Selection was based on the results of viewers' text messages and the jury's assessment.  Instead of the expected 7 contestants, 10 made it to the semi-finals.  During the third week of the TV project, Gunay Ibrahimli and Nicola Barclay, a 26-year-old fitness coach from Scotland, qualified for the semi-finals.  The last, seventh, week was successful for Ilhama Qasimova and Nigar Camal.  Eventually Nicola withdrew, citing poor health as the reason.  Besides these candidates, Cingiz Mustafayev, Nurlan Novrasli, Aynisan Quliyeva, Ilgara Ibrahimova, Arzum Xalilova and Eldar Qasimov were among the 9 finalists.  So, the nine performers vied for the right to represent our country in the Eurovision contest.

The last week for the nine finalists was the "bloodiest."  The number of text messages increased and the results were preposterous and surprised the jury.  The top five places went to Ilhama Qasimova, Ilqara Ibrahimova, Nurlan Novrasli, Aynisan Quliyeva and Arzum Xalilova who, according to the rules, were to be the finalists.  However, the jury had its own plans.  They intervened, and the outsider of the nine contestants, Nigar Camal, with her 731 text messages, pushed Nurlan Novrasli out of the audience voters rating, although he had 18,750 text messages of support!  Niqar also sidelined Gunay Ibrahimli and Cingiz Mustafayev, who were both one step above her in the ratings.  The surprise promotion of Nigar Camal into the top five gave rise to numerous rumours that the Azerbaijani 'clone' of Jennifer Lopez had been included in the list for a reason.

The final gala concert was organized at the recently reconstructed Azerbaijani State Drama Theatre.  All five participants sang four songs each:  A European hit, a Eurovision hit, an Azerbaijani song and a new song.  The audience's favourites were Eldar Qasimov and Ilhama Qasimova.  Eldar was the true discovery of the national selection contest.  This talented guy with a beautiful voice and a bleak smile won the hearts of numerous bloggers too.  And Ilhama Qasimova with her excellent voice surprised everyone with her sudden transformation into a slender and elegant diva.

Among the guests of the gala show, which continued for three hours, were Eurovision participants Safura Alizade and Sopo Nizharadze from Georgia, Senit from San Marino and Anna Rossinelli from Switzerland.  The jury members, Public Broadcaster General Director Ismail Omarov, International Musical Council President Lala Qasimova, People's Artists Gaya music group manager Rauf Babayev, composer Faiq Sucaddinov and singer Zulfiya Xanbabayeva, musical coordinator of Eurovision in Azerbaijani Zahra Badalbeyli and Culture and Tourism Ministry official Manzar Nuraliyeva, recessed for deliberation.  After a tedious wait, the chairman of the jury entered the stage and announced that a decision had been made to send a duet to the Eurovision contest this year.  The jury chair said that the duo Aysel Teymurzada and Arash had won third place for Azerbaijan in the past.  The only male among the five participants was Eldar Qasimov.  The only question was which of the girls the jury liked best.  As expected, it was Nigar Camal.  In conclusion, the winners sang a duet.