Assa-Irada,
26, May 2008

Azerbaijan was rated eighth at the Eurovision song contest held in Belgrade, Serbia on Saturday.

The Azerbaijani duet performed at the final which was watched by about 300 million viewers around the world. Singers Elnur Huseynov and Samir Javadzada representing the country that joined the competition launched 52 years ago for the first time performed the "Day after day" song which converged rock, opera and national folk music Mugham.

The composition signified the eternal struggle of vice and virtue. The two singers brilliantly protrayed the angel and demon on stage.

Russia's Dima Bilan won Eurovision 2008, with his song "Believe", as it had been predicted by bookmakers. Ukraine came in second and Greece third.

As for the voting, Azerbaijan was supported the most by neighboring Turkey, and, surprisingly, by Hungary. The audience in both countries granted the maximum 12 points to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan followed suit and was the only country granting 12 points to Turkey.

Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Czech Republic gave Azerbaijan 10 points, while Macedonia - eight points. Seven points were granted by Belgium and Poland.

The event organizers broke several records this year. 43 countries took part in the contest and 18,000 people attended it. For comparison's sake, the figure was 15,000 in 2007. Russian Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper said rumours are criculating that Azerbaijan had spent 7 million Euros on its campaign for the contest. Reports say that large posters of Elnur and Samir were put up all over Belgrade.

Russian pop singer Dima Bilan who was victorious had spent 1 million Euros to make preparations for Eurovision 2008.

Under existing rules, Moscow will host next year's contest.

Official siteof Eurovision 2008 (www.eurovision2008.org)