Europe experienced a breathtaking show live from the Düsseldorf Arena tonight with 25 acts from 25 countries giving their very best. 20 of these had qualified from the two Semi-Finals while host nation Germany and the rest of the so-called 'Big Five' - France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom - were automatically set for the Final. After all 43 countries had voted, it was Ell/Nikki from Azerbaijan who was the lucky winner with their song Running Scared, collecting 221 points altogether.
The dream to represent Azerbaijan in Eurovision has followed Nigar since 2000. That was when the Russian singer Alsou, highly popular in Azerbaijan, finished on the 2nd place in the Contest with her song Solo. Alsou’s success gave Nigar the hope that one day her dream of performing on the Eurovision stage may become reality. Last autumn, Nigar revived her dream of taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Eldar Gasimov was born in Baku in 1989. Just like Nigar, Eldar has dreamt of performing on the Eurovision stage since 2000. He has passionately followed the Contest, particularly after Azerbaijan’s 2008 debut. Last autumn, Eldar decided to try himself in the national Eurovision selection. He was one of 77 contenders to represent Azerbaijan in Eurovision 2011. After preliminary castings and 7 pre-selection shows, which were broadcast by the ITV channel, Eldar went to the national selection final and became one of the two winners.
50 percent jury impact
Just like in the last few years, a mixture of 50% televote and 50% jury was used. For this purpose, national juries consisting of five music industry professionals gathered in all 43 participating countries who ranked the songs in Eurovision Song Contest style, giving 12 points to their favourite song, 10 points to their second favourite, etc. The results of the five jury members were then added up and accounted for 50% of the country's votes. Those results were then combined with the televoting results.
You can find the full results of the Grand Final here and of the 2 Semi-Finals here and here.
