Safura dripping with confidence on stage
18 May 2010 at 18:02 CESTSafura today wore a black frilled dress and a black lace glove on her left hand. There are four female backing vocalists accompanying her on stage who are all wearing sparkly silver and black dresses. There are two staircased podiums on stage, one for Safura and one for the four backing singers. Each step of Safura's staircase illuminates as she steps down them one by one at the beginning of the song. This staircase has an image of dripping water projected on to the side of it
A topless male dancer then emerges from behind the larger podium and joins Safura and her backing singers as they also step down to the stage. Safura changes position as the song builds, leaving the backing singers on stage and moving to the end of the catwalk where she emotively falls to her knees before returning to the main stage to rejoin everyone for the finale. The male dancer ends the song crouched on the smaller staircase.The backdrop is dark and has strips of light bulbs intermittently flashing in white, green and blue hanging from the ceiling.
It remains to be seen if there are to be any added extra elements of surprise that we have not yet witnessed in Safura's stage show, but todays rehearsal was received very well by those attending.
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The Azerbaijani press conference was one of the most heavily attended of the first three days. Safura introduced some of her team including Beyonce's choreographer JaQuel Knight and her dancer Denis Hrystuk who was a finalist in the Ukrainian version of the show So You Think You Can Dance.
JaQuel was asked how it was to work with Safura. He said "Working with Safura is such a gift and a pleasure as she is so sweet and very fine. It is inspiring to see new talent like Safura and to have a new song to try and develop. She is a star and before I was working with her she was a star already. I have a great canvas to work on with the performance." JaQuel also commented that Beyonce and Safura both share a great work ethic and are extremely hard working.
The press conference announcer asked Safura about how she felt with the responsibility of representing her country at such a young age. Safura replied "I feel very happy at the age of 17 that I am representing Azerbaijan at such a high level competition as the Eurovision Song Contest. Drip Drop is a very special song to me, and people fall in love with it from a first hearing. It is a very touching song and I am very proud to be singing it. I feel a lot of responsibility with the chance that I have been given."
Safura first rose to fame by winning a talent show in Azerbaijan called Yene Ulduz. She felt that was a different kind of experience to one she is now living in Oslo, as one of them she was representing herself, and now in Oslo she is representing her country. She added that the talent show has given her invaluable experience which she can use, such as learning how to work properly with cameras and dancers. Safura gave an acapella slow rendition of Drip Drop whilst Denis danced with her at the same time which went down a storm with the assembled press and fans.
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Safura started to sing at the age of three. At six she had her first stage performance. And ever since, she has taken part in various competitions. She is the winner of Azerbaijani talent show Yene Ulduz which is the equivalent to Pop Idol. Safura graduated from musical school where she played violin, though she always dreamed about playing saxophone. And if you want something very bad, you go ahead and do it. So now Safura is the only female celebrity in Azerbaijan who can play this tough instrument! Thanks to her parents Safura started to show an early interest for fashion, too. She displayed her growing talents in fashion design while working on her very first stage outfits which she created with her mother's help. Her song Drip Drop was written and produced in Sweden by famous composer Anders Bagge.