Azerbaijan possibly have the best Eurovision track record ever. They’ve qualified for the final every time they have competed since their debut in 2008, they won in 2011 with Ell and Niki’s ‘Running Scared’ and have a total of six top ten finishes in eight attempts. Their worst result to date was in 2014 when Dilara Kazimova came 22nd with ‘Start a Fire’. What is the secret of their success and what have they in store for us in 2016?
For the past two weeks we have been delving into all things Azerbaijan. We have scrutinized all their eight entries, putting them all under the microscope. We have awarded them points over a number of categories including finishing position, song, lyrics, performance, legacy and have even asked you to weigh in by voting for your favourite in our poll. Well that’s all over now and it’s time to reveal the winner of the overall contest. And the winner is…
We have been awarding the past Azeri Eurovision entries points based on a number of different criteria over the last week and a bit. Today we look at their legacy. What have they done since representing their country at the world’s biggest music competition. Read on to see what they’ve been up to. Some of them may surprise you. Which of them for instance has collaborated with Shaggy and Sean Paul?
Just three more rounds to go in this competition to assess which of the Azerbaijan Eurovision entries is the best. We have already taken a look at the lyrics, the live performance, the music video, the finishing place and now we turn our attention to the song itself before looking tomorrow at the legacy of each act and tallying your votes from our poll on Sunday. Read on to find out how we ranked each song, see how that alters the overall table and to vote in the poll.
The lyrics of a song are something that can contribute to its success and in Eurovision this is no exception. It has been well documented that Eurovision songs have some of the most bizarre, quirky and altogether strange lyrics of all. Take for instance the Belarussian entry from 2014 that saw a grown man sing about his love of cheesecakes, or the German entry from 1979 that saw a whole song dedicated to Genghis Khan. These are only a few examples from the past 60 years. Despite a reputation for gimmicky songs like the ones just mentioned, Eurovision also gives us some great lyrics that could stand the test of time outside of the contest. One only has to think of the winners from the last few years: Loreen, Lena, Conchita and this year’s winner Mans Zelmerlow who have dominated the European charts with their great songs. Classic songs as well such as ABBA’s ‘Waterloo’, LuLu’s ‘Boom Bang a Bang’ and Celine Dion’s ‘Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi’ owe their success to their clever lyrics. Now and again (despite rules to the contrary) we get some songs whose lyrics spark a bit of political controversy. Recently there has been the subsequently banned Georgian entry from 2009 which proclaimed that ‘We Don’t Wanna Put In’ directed at the Russian leader and even more recently than that we had ‘Don’t Deny’ from Armenian supergroup Genealogy who had to alter the song’s title for allusions to the denial of the Armenian genocide in 1915. In this article we will take a look at the Azerbaijani songs from the last eight years, picking out the best lyric from each song and awarding them points ranging from 12 to 3 (Eurovision style) on that basis.
We continue to assess the Azerbaijani entries from the Eurovision back catalogues, this time looking at their live performances when they took part in the competition. For this we will take into account their ability to sing live, their stage presence, their chemistry with the audience and the staging of the song. Which of the eight acts will receive the highly sought after douze points and who will go home pointless. Read on to find out how each act fared and how this round of points impacts the overall scores. Remember you can vote in our poll to give your favourite act an extra boost.
In Eurovision, in this day and age it isn’t enough just to have a good song. Fans expect so much from their Eurovision entrants and want to be entertained from start to finish. One major development in recent years is that of the accompanying music video and it is this feature that is the second criteria that we will look at in our judgement of the eight Azerbaijani entries.
The first criteria that we will judge our eight Azeri acts on will be where they placed in their year in the competition. The competition is tough given Azerbaijan’s exceptional track record. Coming out on top however was their first, and so far only win, for Ell and Nikki in 2011 for Running Scared.
Since they started competing in the Eurovision in 2008, Azerbaijan have had one of the best track records. They have made the final in each of their eight attempts, including a win in 2011, a second place in 2013 and a third place finish in 2009. We have decided to rank the entries based on a number of criteria; finishing position, artistry, song, lyrics, video and performance. We will reveal these results over the next few days, but we want your input too. We want to know which of the eight Azeri entries is your favourite? These will then be tallied and we will reveal the order. To refresh your memory on the entries, check out the videos below.
Aram MP3 still most viewed on YouTube
It’s that time of the week again where we take a look at the least and most viewed videos on YouTube. At the top end Aram MP3 still dominates with over 2 million views, while Austria’s Conchita Wurst is catching with also over 2 million hits. Azerbaijan’s ‘Start a Fire’ is now in third and Greece is fourth as both entries hit the 1 million mark. Sanna Nielsen rounds up the top ten, falling three places with ‘Undo’.
Eurovision NI 