Azerbaijan successful at Eurovision again, ranks second (UPDATE)
By Nigar Orujova
Azerbaijani singer Farid Mammadov delivered a successful performance at the Eurovision song contest, ranking second, next only to Denmark's Emmelie de Forest, the winner of Europe`s favorite TV show this year.
De Forest won with the Only Teardrops song at the 58th Eurovision grand final held May 18 in Malmo, Sweden, where representatives of 26 countries vied for the glory of being named the best at the popular European song contest. The winner of Eurovision-2013 with 281 votes was determined by voting of the jury in 39 countries and the voting of viewers.
According to the results of voting, Azerbaijan's Farid Mammadov closely followed the winner and ranked second, gathering 234 votes with the romantic ballad Hold Me. With his success, Farid continues Azerbaijan's tradition of brilliant performances at the Eurovision song contest.
Ukraine's Zlata Ognevich with her "Gravity" song took the third place, scooping 214 votes.
During the voting Azerbaijan gained the highest 12 points from a total of 10 countries -- Austria, Israel, Hungary, Bulgaria, Russia, Malta, Greece, Montenegro, Lithuania and Georgia. 10 points, the second highest grade, came from Romania, Belarus and Ukraine.
Azerbaijan gave 8 points to Malta, 10 points to Georgia and 12 points to Ukraine.
The final broadcast was hosted by Petra Mede and Eric Saade (from the Green Room), who wished warm welcome from Malmo to the millions of TV and Web viewers across the globe.
The show was opened with an Olympic-style flag march, when the artists entered the arena to the anthem "We write the story", written by world-famous Swedish pop group ABBA. The winner of last year's contest in Baku, Loreen, and Sarah Dawn Finer with another ABBA song "The winner takes it all" impressively performed during the intervals.
Farid Mammadov's magnificent voice performing the song Hold Me, composed by Dimitrios Kontopoulos, together with the stage performance by Fokas Evangelinos, a legendary stage director, captured the hearts of the European audience, making the Azerbaijani singer the second at the final.
He was also chosen Eurovision's new Top Male Model, leaving behind Cezar of Romania and Marco Mengoni of Italy. Moreover, minutes before the Grand Final Farid won Artistic Award from Marcel Bezencon. The award is given to the best artist as it is voted on by Eurovision commentators.
Farid thanked his family, fans and everyone who helped him on his way to the final.
"My grandfather always said that only hard work and selflessness could lead to the success. His words sounded in my head, when the results of the voting were announced," Farid said after the final contest, Euromedia reported.
21 year-old Farid spent the last 13 years honing his skills as a singer.
He was born in Baku in the family of a professional judoka and an amateur rock musician, Asif Mammadov, and Maya Mammadova, a silver-winning Soviet gymnast. Currently he is a student of the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts and works for the Baku Jazz Centre.
Since childhood, Mammadov sang in the Bulbul ensemble managed by Aybaniz Hashimova. For a long time he was a soloist of this ensemble. He decided to become a singer as the age of eight and to accomplish success, he tried out different genres -- from Azerbaijani folk music Mugham to soul and jazz.
Besides music, he also practices Greco-Roman wrestling and capoeira.
In March 2013 Farid won the Azerbaijani national final selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, becoming the first male solo singer to represent Azerbaijan in the contest.
Azerbaijan debuted at the ESC in 2008. The Azerbaijani results at the contest were always remarkable, as the country gained third place in 2009, fifth in 2010, first in 2011, and fourth in 2012. Azerbaijan won the event on its fourth attempt in 2011 with Ell and Nikki's Running Scared song, which brought the contest to Baku in 2012.
The ESC is one of the longest-running television programs in the world and is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world, with some 100 million to 600 million audiences internationally. Since 2000, the ESC can be seen online.