Azerbaijan 2008

After the German victory in 2010, I posted an item about every German participation at the ESC. This year I'll do the same about every Azerbaijani contribution at the ESC, starting with 2008.

The first ever Azebaijani pre-selection for the ESC was held at the Heydar Aliyev Palace in Baku. The winner was chosen by an "expert" jury. Elnur Hüseynov and Samir Javadzadeh were chosen by the jury to represent Azerbaijan at the ESC with the song Day After Day, which came 8th in the Grand Final

Samir Javadzadeh (April 16, 1980, Baku) is an Azerbaijani pop singer. He graduated from university with a degree in business in 2002. After serving in the army for a year, he became a member of the pop band Sheron for the next three years and eventually started pursuing a solo career. In 2008 he was chosen to sing the Azerbaijani entry at the ESC together with Elnur.

Originally, Samir Javadzadeh was not named among those who competed to represent Azerbaijan at the ESC. The jury chose Elnur Hüseynov and it was then revealed that the song Day After Day would be performed as a duet by Elnur and Samir. In an interview following the decision, one of the coordinators of the contest (and author of the lyrics of Day After Day) Zahra Badalbeyli stated that it was not contrary to the contest rules for Elnur Hüseynov to invite another performer or more to sing with him, and that it was his and Samir's mutual agreement to perform Day After Day in a duet.

Elnur Hüseynov (March 3, 1987, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan) is an Azerbaijani pop singer.

At age 5, Elnur was admitted to a music school for gifted children where he was trained as a piano player. In 1999, the family moved to Baku, Azerbaijan, where Elnur studied at a medical school and graduated with a degree in dentistry. In 2004 he graduated from the Asaf Zeynally College of Music and took up some hairstylist courses. He worked shortly at the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre and with the choir group of the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Society, in addition to singing in a church choir.

In 2003, he received first prize in the musical competition Sing Your Song aired on Azerbaijan's Lider TV. In 2008, he was selected to represent Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Following the contest, the duo split. In December 2009, Elnur Hüseynov announced his intention to move permanently to Ukraine to further pursue his musical career.In June 2010, Elnur performed the part of Phoebus in the musical Notre-Dame de Paris, which was staged in Heydar Aliyev Palace. In October 2010, he submitted an application to represent Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 but did not compete in the semifinals, with the exception of making a cameo appearance in one of the performances of the semifinalist Diana Hajiyeva.