The song, Aysel, Azerbaijan's hope in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest will perform on stage in Moscow has been chosen. It is called Always and it is a romantic song composed by Arash, the world known composer and songwriter.

Thirty songs were submitted to iTV when they launched an open call for songs to select the one which Aysel will perform in the Eurovision Song Contest in May. Today, it was announced that the winner of the composers' competition, voted unanimously by the seven member jury, was the song Always written by Arash known for his hits Pure Love, Donya and Boro Boro.

"I was completely confident in my song!" Arash said today in a telephone interview, "I found out about Azerbaijan's competition for the best song to represent them at Eurovision by chance, surfing the Internet. In one night, I finished the song I had worked on for quite some time – with just one thing missing from it: the understanding who this song could be for. When I saw AySel's pictures, I realised – this song is for her! So Always was written specially for AySel. Why did I take part in the contest? I'm originally Azerbaijani, and I would like to have a part in this country's confident ascent in the history of Eurovision. Frankly, I regret that I found out too late about Azerbaijan's national selection of its Eurovision participant and missed the casting. Besides being a songwriter and a composer, I am also a performer, and I would be thrilled to be on the Eurovision stage in 2009, instead of being on the backstage."

Murad Adigozelzade, one of the jury members, stated: ""Always is what we were looking for! This is a 100-percent Eurovision hit song, which fits AySel perfectly. It is a romantic song, and we are sure it will become a European hit of this spring. We are very satisfied with the selection, and now the matter depends on staging a bright and spectacular show!"

Aysel states that she was surprised to hear Arash had submitted a song in the Azeri preselection: "Of course, I have already heard the song, but I won't comment on it for the time being. The thing is that it's really important for me to understand how the song will sound in the final. So I am really looking forward to its recording and arrangement."