Salam Azərbaycan! The country of Caucasus continues the tradition of choosing the artist who will represent them in Eurovision through an internal selection and as for 2019 it’s now official: Chingiz will fly to Tel Aviv, with the song Truth!
This year, Azerbaijan decided to sail differently and send a male artist to Eurovision, after featuring only female leading singers in the last three years.
How did this run?
It all started with some auditions held at the Azeri national broadcaster Ictimai TV, with a total of 40 invited artists, all in the hope to be offered the coveted ticket to Tel Aviv. Following this process, the broadcaster shortlisted a total of 4 acts, ending up to Chingiz! Hence, the young singer will be gearing up to try his best on the Eurovision stage!
Furthermore, the broadcaster had opened the submission window for composers and songwriters who wish to submit their music. Ictimai TV had finally received a total of 350 candidate entries. One of them was chosen internally and is the one that Chingiz will have in his luggage for Tel Aviv.
I don’t need the truth…
It was on Tuesday when a short teaser of the Azerbaijani entry was dropped, but now it’s fully out! It’s the entry Truth, penned by the Bulgarian-Austrian songwriter Borislav Milanov. On the occasion his song’s release, Milanov comments:
Initially, I was a little nervous about how Chingiz would perform the song, since he comes from a different musical background. But meeting him totally changed my mind. He’s so passionate about music and his own culture. We even added some unique elements of traditional Azerbaijani music, which worked brilliantly to make the song an authentic fusion of Azerbaijan and the West.
‘Truth’ is about a dishonest, toxic relationship. The song explores the story of one partner who betrays the other, leaving them with a difficult choice: accept deceit or break free from false illusions.
Has Ictimai TV made the perfect match between artist and song? Listen to Truth and share your opinion!
About Chingiz
Chingiz Mustafayev was born in Moscow, but moved to Qazax, Azerbaijan when he was 6 years old. Seven years later, he moved with his mother and brother to the capital Baku. He rose to fame in his country when he was just 16 years old, by winning the show Yeni Ulduz in 2007. In 2013, he represented Azerbaijan at the international competition “New Wave” in Jūrmala, Latvia. He has also participated in The Voice of Ukraine. Some of his latest hits are Qurbet, Ay qiz, Get and Tenha gezen, which you may enjoy below. His video clip has reached more than 3 million YouTube views.
Chingiz has also a very active Instagram account, with more than 110k followers.
Azerbaijan at Eurovision 2018
Last year, Azerbaijan was represented by the young singer AISEL, who was also internally selected by the Azeri broadcaster Ictimai TV. AISEL performed the song X my heart, written by Dimitris Kontopoulos, Tim Bran and Sandra Bjurman. The country placed 11th in the first semi-final, thus failing to qualify for the Grand Final for the first time in its Eurovision history.
This year, Azerbaijan will be competing in the second half of the second semi-final on 16 May.
