Azerbaijan is one of those countries that does well every year in Eurovision. In 2011 they won and ever since 2009, they never missed the top 5 of the final scoreboard. Last year they finished as runner up behind Denmark with Farid Mammadov’s ‘Hold Me’. This year they are expected to do well again with the wonderful ballad ‘Start A Fire’, sung by the beautiful and charming Dilara Kazimova. I had the privilege to chat with her about her Eurovision participation and her successful predecessors.

Why do you think your song ‘Start A Fire’ is good enough to win Eurovision?
Well, the song was both my choice and the choice of the national jury. It is just such a beautiful song. I really love it!

Did you hear all other songs? Who do you think could stop you from winning?
I heard most of the songs that will compete, but not all of them yet. It is hard to say who might win as it is a contest and you never know what might happen. I really can not predict a winner at this point, but we will see.

What is your own goal in the competition? Would you be satisfied with a spot in the top 10?
I really try not to think about all of this right now. I just try to focus on giving the best performance I could with this song and then we will see what will happen. I just need to do my best to give the performance of my life and that is all I can do.

Azerbaijan is known for making big shows out of their Eurovision performances. Do you already know what your moment will look like?
I have some ideas of course, but I do not want to ruin the surprise just yet. Azerbaijan has always surprised with beautiful shows on stage and I hope I can do that as well. I promise you it will be interesting.

I see Eurovision as an estafette. All the artists that represented Azerbaijan before me, did a great job and now they passed it over to me.”

Azerbaijan has been reaching top 5 for quite a few years in a row. Does this put extra pressure on you to perform well?
All the artists that represented Azerbaijan before me had great moments on stage. That is inspiring and I just want to thank them for it. It does not put pressure on me, but of course I really want to do as well in the competition as they did. I see it as an estafette. They did their thing and now they passed it over to me and I have to give my all to do a great performance.

That’s the spirit! Last question: if you could cover any song from the history of Eurovision, which one would you choose?
That is a tough question! I don’t know. There were so many great songs that participated through the years so it is really hard to pick just one. I already did a cover of Denmark’s song last year, ‘Only Teardrops’ by Emmelie De Forest. I really like that song!