The Contest
As part of their promo tour, Aysel Teymurzadeh and Arash visited Slovenia, Romania and Sweden before heading to Moscow for their final rehearsals.
The international team behind AySel & Arash included experts from Sweden, Ukraine, Russia, UK and Azerbaijan itself. The outfits Aysel Teymurzadeh and Arash wore on stage were designed by the Swedish couturier Lars Wallin.
During the rehearsals in Moscow, the Azerbaijan representatives were visited by the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Azerbaijan's entry was regarded as a favourite and had been predicted by many as being likely to finish in the top five in the final.
Since Azerbaijan is not one of the "Big Four" nor the host of the 2009 contest, it had to compete in one of the two semi-finals. According to the draw for semi-finals, Azerbaijan competed in Semi-final 2 on May 14. The country was seeded 11th in the order of performance. During the Final on May 16, the Azerbaijani duo finished third with 207 points. Televoters awarded the Azerbaijani entry 2nd place, while the juries ranked Azerbaijan 8th. The combined result was the third place.
Azerbaijani entry received votes from 34 out of 41 countries of the Contest, Azerbaijan excluded. Azerbaijan's third place is considered a great success for the country, which participated in the contest only for the second time.
AySel & Arash became the winners of the 4th Annual ESC Radio Awards in the category of the Best Group.
Read more about this topic: Azerbaijan In The Eurovision Song Contest 2009
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