Nadir Rustamli will head to Turin for Azerbaijan 🇦🇿
26 February 2022 at 17:00 CET
Nadir Rustamli
Nadir Rustamli is one of the latest names to be welcomed into the Eurovision 2022 family of competing artists. The singer from Salyan will be representing his native Azerbaijan at the 66th Eurovision Song Contest in Turin.
Azerbaijan broadcaster İctimai Television broke the news to Nadir earlier in February, and are now proud to present him as their selected artist for the country’s Eurovision Song Contest participation in May. The song that Nadir will be competing with shall be revealed at a later date.
His selection to fly the Azerbaijan flag in Turin came just 3 weeks after Nadir was voted to be the winner of The Voice of Azerbaijan. The second series of the popular TV show concluded on 28 January, with Nadir polling more than 40% of the audience’s votes towards the final line-up.
Nadir’s mentor on The Voice of Azerbaijan was Eldar Gasimov, who is best known outside of his country for winning the Eurovision Song Contest for Azerbaijan in 2011, with Running Scared, a duet with Nikki. Nadir admits that Eurovision was most definitely on his mind when he chose Eldar to be his coach on the programme, as representing his country at the Eurovision Song Contest has always been a dream of his, so he naturally gravitated towards the famous Contest winner.
Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest
Azerbaijan made its debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008, winning the competition only 3Â years later in 2011, with Running Scared performed by Ell and Nikki.
To commemorate the moment, Azerbaijan issued a special postage stamp dedicated to Ell & Nikki’s victory. The 2012 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku and success in the competition continued, when Sabina Babayeva finished 4th on home ground with When The Music Dies.
Azerbaijan’s most recent Contest entry was Mata Hari in 2021, performed by Efendi in Rotterdam.
