In 2008, Azerbaijan participated in Eurovision for the very first time. For their debut, they sent Elnur and Samir (Elnur Hüseynov and Samir Javadzadeh), a pop-opera duo influenced by mugham, a genre of traditional Azerbaijani folk music. Their song, "Day After Day" describes an epic battle between good and evil.
Elnur, dressed as an angel, and Samir, dressed as the Devil, were joined onstage by angel babes and devil sluts. And a costume change! They knew what they were doing. Perhaps it is a bit excessive, but nuance is hard when you're trying to appeal to viewers in 40 different countries. And you know what will never get docked points at Eurovision? Enthusiasm. Voters felt the same: they awarded this entry 132 points, and it finished in eighth place. Not bad for first timers.
Eurovision has always been very popular in Azerbaijan. Participation is taken very seriously and is viewed as a great source of national pride. They are a favorite country in the Contest, and 2011 brought the first Azerbaijani victory with "Running Scared," a sweet, bubbly duet between Ell and Nikki (Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal). They have toned it down a little bit since their debut.
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