Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

Aysel Mammadova, known under her stage name AISEL, has been announced as the next Azerbaijani representative for Eurovision 2018 hosted by Portugal.

AISEL will be country’s 11 entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.

The young singer is not only a vocalist, but a pianist, composer and arranger. She was born into a family of singers and performers, having grown up with music being a strong influence in her life since her early childhood.

Mammadova received classes from renowned musicians, including Alexandre Coppaloni, and Deborah Carter in 2015. She also participated in music events held in Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Ukraine, Israel, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy.

The singer has performed in a number of music festivals, including Baku International Jazz Festival, the Montreux Jazz Festival and the Caucasus Jazz Festival.

Azerbaijan will compete in one of the 2 semi-finals on either May 8 or 10 at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon.

Details about Azerbaijan’s song choice for Lisbon are expected to be released later.

Azerbaijan has never missed out on a place in the Grand Final in over a decade of participating in Eurovision.

The country debuted at the Eurovision contest in 2008 and has always delighted music fans with spectacular shows.

Azerbaijan marked its debut in this contest in 2008 with the duo of Elnur and Samir, who managed to finish eighth in the final with their song ‘Day after day’.

The brilliant duet of Aysel and Arash represented Azerbaijan next year took the third place at the song contest, while Safura Alizada, who represented Azerbaijan at Eurovision 2010 in Oslo took the fifth place.

On its fourth attempt with Ell and Nikki's Running Scared song, the Land of Fire won the event, bringing the contest to Baku’s Crystal Hall in 2012. Ell and Nikki were the first mixed-gender duo to win the contest since 1963 and the first winners from Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan reached the Top 5 in five consecutive contests, and achieved the Top 5 place finishes each once - 3rd in 2009, 5th in 2010, 1st in 2011, 4th in 2012, and runner-up in 2013.

The country managed another two consecutive Top 5 results with Sabina Babayeva finishing fourth with 150 points in 2012 and Farid Mammadov second with 234 in 2013.

Last year Diana represented the country with the song "Skeletons" finishing in 14th place.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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