17/03/12 AZERBAIJAN

The Azeri Final was held at the Heydar Aliyev Palace in Baku back on February 12th, hosted by Leyla Aliyeva, Husniya Maharramova & Kamran Quliyev. Before the final there numerous heats and semi finals. During the final each of the finalists sang 3 songs & the eventual winner was chosen by an "expert" jury.  The singer selected was Sabina Babayeva. Then on the 17 March her entry was released via the internet. She will sing the song “When the music dies”

The song is a romantic ballad that grows steadily and shows off Sabina’s vocal range. During the song more ethic elements can be heard in the backing track. She does a lot of vocal gymnastics during the song and it does get a little bit shouty at times. Her voice is good although the faster bit do feel a bit garbled.

The song is written partly by the same team who wrote last year’s Azeri winning entry but this is nowhere near as memorable. It is not exactly the more interactive of songs and you can’t really join in or remember most if it after it has finished. As for the finish, it ends extremely abruptly and I can imagine an awkward silence at the end.

As there s no live version yet it is hard to judge how this will go on the night. Of course, as winners,  they directly qualify for the final and probably would need it. A very classy song but there is no kick, no hook, no pull. Will do well but certainly no winner.

           

SONG – When the music dies

ARTIST – Sabina Babayeva.

COMPOSERS - Anders Bagge, Stefan Örn, Johan Kronlund, Sandra Bjurman

LANGUAGE – English