🇦🇿 All About Nadir Rustamli: Azerbaijan’s 2022 Artist Preview

Image Credit: Ictimai TV

They were the last to provide their song, but finally on March 21st Azerbaijan completed the class of 2022 with the release of their song ‘Fade To Black’ by Nadir Rustamli.

Want to know more about Nadir and his chances at ESC 2022? Read on to discover the man hoping to continue Azerbaijan’s qualifying streak…

Who Is Nadir Rustamli?

Nadir Rashid Oghlu Rustamli was born on July 8th 1999 in Salyan, Azerbaijan. He has a degree in Business Administration alongside his success in music.

He’s one of many The Voice contestants taking part in the contest this year. In 2021, he auditioned for The Voice of Azerbaijan with the song ‘Writing’s On The Wall’ by Sam Smith. He joined Eurovision 2011 winner Eldar Gasimovs team and performed his winning song ‘Running Scared’ alongside him in the final. In January 2022 he was declared the winner of the show, and a month later was announced as Azerbaijan’s artist for Eurovision 2022.

How Well Will ‘Fade To Black’ Do At ESC 2022?

‘Fade To Black’ didn’t receive the warmest reception, partly due to how late it was released. With the Eurovision lineup sitting on 38 songs for just under week after the EBU’s submission deadline, both Armenia and Azerbaijan’s reveals were met with some negativity. People expected a winner and didn’t get what they were hoping for.

However as time has progressed, ‘Fade To Black’ has gone from the song we were all waiting for, to one that has ironically faded a little into the background. Nadir did make a journey to Spain for PrePartyES, and gave an excellent performance. A lot rested on Nadir’s vocals being pitch-perfect, and they seemed to be just that.

If this were in semi-final one, there would probably be no doubt that we’d be looking at qualification. However, in semi-final two, Azerbaijan faces a huge battle with two other big male vocal ballads/mid-tempo songs – ‘Not The Same’ from Australia and ‘River’ from Poland. With Sheldon Riley and Ochman being as strong vocally as Nadir, it’ll be interesting to see who’ll be the one to wow the jury and the viewers at home most. Could all three qualify? It’s possible, but then they’ll all face yet another powerful vocalist in the form of the United Kingdom‘s Sam Ryder. Is there room in the final for all four talented men?

Nadir does have the benefit of being between two entries that viewers are likely to either love or hate – Serbia’s ‘In Corpore Sano’ and Georgia’s ‘Lock Me In’. With ‘Fade To Black’ being the most accessible and “viewer” friendly of the three, if the televote opinion goes against the surrounding entries then this could really help Azerbaijan. If they decide to love Serbia and Georgia, we may be seeing Azerbaijan’s second-ever non-qualification.

Listen to Azerbaijan’s entry for ESC 2022 below!