Published
Nigar Jamal and Eldar Gasimov have won the Azerbaijani National Final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. They will represent the Land of Fire in Düsseldorf in the first ESC Semi-Final on 10th May.
The representatives of Azerbaijan to Eurovision 2011 were selected in the country’s capital Baku on 11th February. The singers were among the 5 finalists of the «Milli Seçim Turu», the Azerbaijani National Final. The other 3 acts in the Final included Ilhama Gasimova, Ilgara Ibrahimova and Aynishan Guliyeva. The winners were determined by a professional jury, which included ITV’s Director General Ismail Omarov, the president of the Azerbaijani National Music Committee Lala Kazimova, the music expert Rauf Babayev, the composer Faik Sudjaddinov, the singer Zulfiyya Khanbabayeva, the representative of Azerbaijani Ministry of Youth and Sport Zahra Badalbeyli as well as the representative of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism Manzar Nuraliyeva. Altogether 77 contestants participated in the Azerbaijani national selection, which was divided into 7 semi-finals.
Nigar Jamal was born in Baku on 7th September 1980. She began to sing as part of a children’s group when she was five. Later Nigar went to a music school and graduated in piano. In 1996, she was recognized in the Azerbaijani music competition «Pöhrə». Nigar has a University degree in economics. In 2005, she married and moved to the UK. Currently Nigar lives between London and her home city of Baku. Some of her favourite singers include Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera и Craig David.
Eldar Gasımov was born in Azerbaijan in 1989. He began to sing when he was a child and since then has taken part in several concerts and festivals in Azerbaijan and Russia. In 2005 he graduated in piano from the Baku Musical School. He attended vocal lessons when he lived in Germany in 2008. He is fluent in German and is currently a student at the Baku Slavic University.
Meanwhile, ITV continues the contest for song writers and composers. According to the channel’s representatives, the song that Nigar Jamal and Eldar Gasımov will sing for Azerbaijan in Düsseldorf will be selected by a professional jury by 1st March.