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THE BAKU EUROVISION SHOW
The night of May 24 presented the winners of 5 recent Eurovision Song Contests at the interval show of the Second
Semi-Final with Maria Sherifovich (Serbia), Dima Bilan (Russia), Alexander Rybak (Norway), Lena Mayer (Germany),
and Ell&Nikki (Azerbaijan) backed up by traditional Azerbaijani musical instruments like tar, kamancha, saz, balaban or
naghara. This added a new flavor to Europe’s winning compositions.
The Eurovision Grand Final on May 26 opened with a mugham composition presented by a recognized artist Alim
Gasymov. His composition
No Flame Can Challenge My Desire to Thee, Azerbaijan, My Magic Land of Fire
accompanied
with tuneful sound of balaban and fiery dance presented a unique synthesis of traditions and modernity.
The final phase of the contest was featured by another grand spectacle whereby joint performance of naghara drum-
mers with kemancha and violin was followed by a huge flame symbolizing the Contest’s motto
Light Your Fire!
and
Never Enough
composition by a renowned singer and composer Emin. This interval show of the Grand Final provided
the second wind to the event’ conclusion.
The postcards were also presented in quite an extraordinary manner at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. Innovative
both in subject matter and filming techniques, restricted to 40 seconds only and broadcast prior to each country’s
presentation, they succeeded in revealing Azerbaijan’s storied past, rich cultural legacy, deeply rooted traditions,
breathtaking nature, abundant natural resources, intricate works of art, time-tested religious tolerance, heritage
landmarks, modern architectural sites, racer horses from Garabagh, magnificent carpets, etc.
The shooting conducted in Baku and countryside areas like Sheki, Nakhchivan, Gabala, Gusar, etc. involved a symphony
orchestra, 5 opera singers, a company of ballet dancers, jazz bands, mugham performers, national dancers, more than
200
persons engaged in crowd scenes and 41 Garabagh horses, to mention a few.
The demand for tickets and number of viewers provide another evidence of a tremendous public interest towards
the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. The arena was completely packed up both at the Semi-Finals, the dress rehear-
sals, the Jury Final and the Grand Final.
The show was also broadcast live through a number of huge monitors installed all over the city and at EuroVillage.
Personalized ticketswas another novice applied during the ESC2012. This technique proved efficient in keeping the prices
stable throughout the show and avoid speculations and forgery while passing tickets from one individual to another.
The price for attending the contest at the Baku Crystal Hall ranged from 30 to 240 Azerbaijani manats.