Elnur Hüseynov (born 3 March 1987) is an Azerbaijani singer. He was Azerbaijan's representative to perform " Day After Day" at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

alongside Samir Javadzadeh as duo Elnur and Samir. In 2015, he won the fourth season of '' The Voice of Turkey'' and represented Azerbaijan in the 60th Eurovision Song Contest with the song "

Hour of the Wolf ''Hour of the Wolf'' ( sv, Vargtimmen, lit=The Wolf Hour) is a 1968 Swedish psychological horror film directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann. The story explores the disappearance of fictional painter Johan Borg ...

Career

Hüseynov was born in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, to ethnic

Azeri Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most nume ...

parents. His father was a military serviceman and his mother specializes in

music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the " rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (k ...

. At age five, Elnur was admitted to a music school where he was trained as a

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

player. In 1999, the family moved to

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world an ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, where Elnur studied at a medical school and graduated with a degree in

dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of ...

. In 2004, he graduated from the Asaf Zeynally Music College and took up hairstylist courses. He worked shortly at the

Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre The Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater (Azeri: ''Axundov adına Azərbaycan Dövlət Akademik Opera və Balet Teatrı''), formerly known as the Mailov Theatre

and with the choir group of the

Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Society The Muslim Magomayev Azerbaijan State Academic Philharmonic Hall ( az, Müslüm Maqomayev adına Azərbaycan Dövlət Akademik Filarmoniyası), located in Baku, is the main concert hall in Azerbaijan built in 1910. Since 2006 Murad Adigozalzade i ...

, in addition to singing in a church choir. In 2003, he received first prize in the musical competition ''Sing Your Song'' aired on Azerbaijan's Lider TV.

Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Elnur Huseynov and Samir Javadzadeh were selected to represent Azerbaijan at the

, marking the country's debut in this song contest. Identified as the duo Elnur and Samir, together they sang " Day After Day". They were placed eighth in the finals. Following the contest, the duo split.

Further career moves

In December 2009, Elnur Hüseynov announced his intention to move permanently to

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

to further pursue his musical career. In June 2010, Elnur Hüseynov performed the part of

Phoebus Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

in the musical

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Middle Ages#Art and architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris ...

, which was staged in

Heydar Aliyev Palace Heydar is a common male given name in Greater Iran, particularly in Iran and Azerbaijan. A variant of the Arabic name Haydar (also spelt Heidar, Haider, and other variants), it was a cognomen of Ali, who was known for his courage in battle. Heyda ...

. In October 2010, he submitted an application to represent Azerbaijan at the

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song " Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting U ...

but did not compete in the semifinals, with the exception of making a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

in one of the performances of the semifinalist Diana Hajiyeva. Elnur Hüseynov later performed in the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall.

O Ses Türkiye

In 2014, Huseynov, while on a visit to Istanbul applied to take part in season 4 of ''

O Ses Türkiye ''O Ses Türkiye'' is a Turkish reality singing competition and local version of ''The Voice''. It started on October 10, 2011. ''O Ses Türkiye'' is presented by Acun Ilıcalı (since 2011). One of the important premises of the show is the qua ...

'', the Turkish version of ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

''. During the blind auditions, and on the 19th session broadcast on 1 December 2014 broadcast on the Turkish station TV8, singing "

Latch A latch or catch (called sneck in Northern England and Scotland) is a type of mechanical fastener that joins two (or more) objects or surfaces while allowing for their regular separation. A latch typically engages another piece of hardware on t ...

" from the British garage-house duo Disclosure featuring vocals from

Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...

. All four judges turned their chairs. Upon insistence of the judges and the public, he also performed on his audition five additional traditional and pop tunes, including "

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" is a song by British new wave music duo Eurythmics. It is the title track of their album of the same name (1983) and was released as the fourth and final single from the album in early 1983. The song became t ...

" from

Eurythmics Eurythmics were a British Pop music, pop duo consisting of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart (musician and producer), Dave Stewart. They were both previously in The Tourists, a band which broke up in 1980. The duo released their first studio alb ...

and "Aşk" from

Sertab Erener Sertab Erener (born 4 December 1964) is a Turkish singer, songwriter and composer. With her coloratura soprano voice, she started working as a backing vocalist for Sezen Aksu, and with Aksu's help she released her first studio album in the 1990 ...

. Judge Gökhan Özoğuz joined on stage to sing with the contestant in his final audition rendition. With rave comments and comments from all judges, he opted to be on judge

Ebru Gündeş Ebru Gündeş (, born 12 October 1974) is a Turkish pop-folk and arabesque singer, actress, and television personality. Early life Ebru Gündeş was born in Istanbul. She attended primary school in Ankara, but she was forced to discontinue he ...

's team. The strong favourite throughout the season, on 18 February 2015, Elnur Hüseynov was declared the winner of the ''O Ses Türkiye'' season, with Kaya Aslantepe as runner-up. His performances during the season: * 1 December 2014: Blind audition: "

". All four judges turned chairs. In Team Ebru Gündeş * 30 December 2014: Duel round: "

Stayin' Alive "Stayin' Alive" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' motion picture soundtrack. The song was released in 1977 as the second single from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtrack. The band co-produced ...

" against Ümit Ortaç. Safe * 21 January 2015: One on One round: "Golden Eye" against Şermin Özlem Turhan. Safe * 4 February 2015: Cross matches: " Get Lucky" against Seda Yiyin. Next round by score 56-44 * 11 February 2015: Live show 1: ""Exogenesis Symphony Part 1" against Sarper Arda Akkaya and Ceyda Tezemir. Won by public vote and in Final 8 * 17 February 2015: Quarter Finals - first song: "Yalgızam" (in Final 6) * 17 February 2015: Semi Finals - second song: "Vur Yüreğim" (in Final 4) * 18 February 2015: Finals (four contestants) ** First part: " O Sole Mio" & "Aşk" - In Final 3 - Zeo Jaweed of Team Hadise eliminated ** Second part: "

" - In Final 2 - Emrah Güllü of Team Gökhan eliminated ** Third part: "

" - Season Winner - Kaya Aslantepe of Team Gökhan runner-up

Eurovision Song Contest 2015

Elnur Hüseynov represented Azerbaijan for a second time in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2015 The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst. Organised by the European Broa ...

with the song "

". He finished in 12th place in the final.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huseynov, Elnur 1987 births Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Azerbaijan 21st-century Azerbaijani male singers Countertenors English-language singers from Azerbaijan Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2008 Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2015 Living people People from Ashgabat Turkmenistan people of Azerbaijani descent Azerbaijani pop musicians