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| Azerbaijan's Eurovision |
DUESSELDORF, Germany - Azerbaijan scored a magnificent first-ever victory within the 56th Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, Europe's annual pop extravaganza watched by tens of millions of folks.
In Duesseldorf, Germany, Azerbaijani duo Ell and Nikki and their enjoy song "Running Scared" was voted the best from the 25 finalists by voters and "expert" juries in 43 nations in Europe and beyond.
It was only the fourth time that Azerbaijan has competed. Second was Italy, and Sweden came third. Switzerland came last.
"Thank you, we appreciate you," said Ell, true name Eldar Gasimov. "Thanks to God and to my grandad... Our dream came correct."
"From the very first day I believed we could do it... The planet requirements extra true enjoy."
"I can hardly think about how individuals are feeling back residence right now," stated Nikki, 20, whose complete name is Nigar Jamal, and who lives in London -- and has an accent to prove it.
They saw off powerful competitors from Germany's Lena, who was hoping to turn out to be the first individual in Eurovision's extended history to win two years running, Irish twins Jedward and French tenor Amaury Vassili, the bookies' favourite.
A quantity from Zdob si Zbub, a difficult-to-pronounce group of lively Moldovans in "cosmic" pointy hats was also a powerful contender, as had been songs by Sjonni's Close friends from Iceland and from Italian crooner Raphael Gualazzi.
Typically cringe-worthy but always watchable, Eurovision is usually a cherished institution, with 43 nations -- like some from outside Europe -- competing, then whittled down to 25 for the grand final.
"It's amazing. This competitors brings Europe collectively and brings nations together. This can be what I went into music for," mentioned Lee Ryan, 27, a member of this year's British entry, newly reformed boy band Blue.
In spite of Europe's linguistic diversity, "Running Scared" was the 23rd song sung in English to win. French songs have won 14 occasions, Dutch and Hebrew songs 3 occasions each and every. Norway's 2011 entry was partly in Swahili.
The Tv show, 1 of the world's longest-running, is now broadcast not simply in Europe, but additionally in Australia, Canada, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Jordan, Korea, New Zealand plus the United States, although they don't participate.
Eurovision tradition dictates that Azerbaijan's victory implies that the 2012 competitors will be held the resource-rich former Soviet republic frequently criticised by campaign groups for getting a poor human rights record.
Earlier this month, a young opposition activist was jailed for two and half years on drugs charges in Azerbaijan following using social networking web page Facebook to call for an uprising like these within the Arab world.
Jabbar Savalan, 20, was the very first activist to be imprisoned seeing that government opponents began a series of thwarted protests this year within the mainly Muslim state which is a crucial supplier of oil and gas towards the West.
Rights group Amnesty International mentioned that the activist's imprisonment showed how far the authorities had been willing to go to silence dissenting voices, saying the environment for freedom of expression was "fragile."
But the governing party of President Ilham Aliyev says that a discredited and unpopular opposition continues to be trying to stir up confrontation which could harm the nation, and analysts feel that widespread political unrest is unlikely.
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