Sabina Babayeva

Sabina Babayeva (Azerbaijani: Səbinə Babayeva, born 2 December 1979, Baku) is an Azerbaijani singer. She represented Azerbaijan in the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, held in Baku, Azerbaijan on 26 May 2012, with the song "When the Music Dies", as the 13th act, she came fourth overall.

Eurovision Song Contest 2012

A graduate of the Asaf Zeynally Music School in Baku with a degree in vocal arts, she has participated in a number of song competitions both in her country and abroad. She is known in Azerbaijan as the singer of Roya kimi, theme song of the 2003 Azerbaijani television series Bayaz hayat. A veteran contestant in the Azerbaijani national selection, she has applied to represent Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest every year since the country's debut in 2008. In 2011, she came third in her heat.

Prior to being selected, Sabina Babayeva recorded the song Sikhvarulis tamashi in duo with Anri Jokhadze who represented Georgia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.

As part of her promotional tour, Sabina performed in London, Amsterdam and Budapest. At Eurovision, she came in fourth, the highest rank for a host country contestant since the introduction of the semi-finals. She also received the Marcel Bezençon Press Award for her performance of "When the Music Dies".

After Eurovision

In 2012, Babayeva was admitted to a post-secondary programme at the Baku Academy of Music.

In 2014, Babayeva was the spokesperson for the Azerbaijani voting for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Personal life

She considers, rival, Engelbert Humperdinck one of her favourite singers and has expressed an interest in singing a duet with him.

On 30 July 2012, it was announced that Babayeva had got engaged. Her alleged fiancé Javidan Sharifov, who was said to be six years her junior, is a program director on Ictimai TV and former participant of the reality show Gafas. The couple was reported to have been dating for a year. Sabina Babayeva refuted these claims immediately, adding she was "appaulled" by the unprofessionalism of the media reporters. Despite her reaction, the wedding did in fact take place on 26 September 2012. In January 2016, she gave birth to a son she named Ali.