Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

As rumoured ever since he won the Voice of Turkey Elnur Huseynov has been confirmed  for Azerbaijan with Hour of the wolf, a ballad written by an international team. Elnur is no stranger to Eurovision having represented Azerbaijan with Samir at its denut back in 2008 and scoring 8th place.The video for the song will be presented tomorrow but meanwhile you can listen to it here . This blogger thinks its one of the better ballads this year and I am pleased to see Elnur back. 

Time to be serious for a moment. We all know Azerbaijan has issues with neighbour Armenia and we still don't know if they will (be able to) participate in Eurovision 2012 in Baku. The other big issue is the gay rights. It's no secret Eurovision is also one of the world biggests annual gay meetings.These few lines sum it up nicely: "During Eurovision, no-one will bother gay foreigners in Baku. People here don't mind, as long as it's not in their family. There are several openly gay celebrities in Baku who have money and bodyguards, and they are safe. But nothing will change [because of Eurovision] for the majority of gays, particularly in the provinces. This society will never accept them. Homosexuality here is seen as worse than prostitution. If a family decided to kill a gay relative, most people would approve. I have heard of many suicides of suspected homosexuals - I have never met an openly gay person around here." And we thought there were issues...

The annual ESC Radio Awards have been given out for the third time and the radio listeners all around the world seem to agree with the real winner as Dima Bilan wins the best male and Believe the best song award. Ani Lorak is the best female artists and Euroband the best group. Dima Bilan wins over Boaz Mauda and Paolo Meneguzzi in best male artist category, while Dustin the Turkey beats Rodolfo Chikilicuatre in the bottom of the list. In best female Ani Lorak, Sirusho, Gisela and Vania Fernandez fought for the top places while Czesy, Geta Burlacu, Teresa Kerndlová and Hind fought for the last place. In groups Euroband, MioDio and Elnur & Samir were on the top, and Krajlevi Ulice & 75 Cents and Kreisiraadio on the bottom. In songs Believe was a clear winner followed by Qele qele and Casanova . Real fight for the worst song but Lato svet clear the way for that, thus making the Estonian team win two last places: worst song and worst group! Full results here: http://www.escradi...

Azeri guys Elnur and Samir were in London this weekend to record new versions of their entry Day after day. We can expect also a dance version! After that they're off to Kyiv to rehearse the stage act and some heavy promotion trips here and there before Belgrade... Meanwhile they have also had time to show off some latest underwear fashion....

The land of fire takes the spotlight in Belgrade. This yet quite unknown country far away in the Caucasus will surely raise a few eyebrowns and make people think where this came from? The song and its presentation are rather unique and memorable, to say the least... Elnut Huseinov (21) is of Turkmenistan origin and moved to Baku at the age of 12. He has studied both music and hairdressing and styling, all which can be seen and heard in his performance! Samir Javadzane (soon 28) has studied business and international economics. He was the front man of band Sharon before going solo first and dueting with Elnur next.... Azerbaijan is debuting in the Eurovision this year and following the tradition debuting countries will do very well. It's all set for Azerbaijan anyways: a lot of neighbours and most of all a catchy memorable song with a performance one will remember! Elnur has stated that if he should win in Belgrade he will adopt a child Elnur and Samir have made a promovideo fo...