Safura Alizadeh

Safura Aliyeva (Azerbaijani: Səfurə Aliyeva; born: 20 September 1992; Baku, Azerbaijan) is an Azerbaijani singer, actress and saxophonist. Aliyeva took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, where she brought Azerbaijan on 5th place, with the song "Drip Drop". She later released her debut album, It's My War, which made its way into several European countries. Her second debut single "March On" was released in September.

Safura Aliyeva's father is a professional painter and her mother is a pianist and a fashion designer. Aliyeva began singing when she was very young and made her first stage appearance at age 6. In the course of her career, she sang in children's bands Sharg Ulduzlari and Bulbullar. Alizadeh took up violin lessons at the Baku Musical School No 2 but later also learned to play the piano and the saxophone. She became the winner of the national contest Yeni Ulduz (Season 8). Since the eighth grade Safura has been studying at the school no. 23 in Baku.

Safura's saxophone playing was praised by composer Farhad Badalbeyli, who described it as brilliant.

Safura Alizadeh in Oslo.

On 2 March 2010, Alizadeh won the Azerbaijani national final decided by jury and represented Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, which was held in Oslo, Norway. Alizadeh performed at the contest with the song "Drip Drop", written by Anders Bagge, Stefan Örn and Sandra Bjurman. Shortly after she performed on the concert in Ukraine and exchanged wishes with Ukrainian performer Vasyl Lazarovych. The video for the song was directed by a well known film director Rupert Wainwright, and choreographed by JaQuel Knight, who worked with Beyoncé and Britney Spears. Knight also designed the choreography of Safura's stage performance in Oslo.

On 1 May 2010, Safura began her promotional tour, and visited Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and Sweden. On 24 May she visited joint Ukraine—Germany party, attended by Alyosha and Lena Meyer-Landrut. After Meyer-Landrut's performance Safura gave a native Azerbaijani mat for Alyosha and an ancient horse shoe for luck to Lena.

After performing in the Semi-Final of the Eurovision on 27 May 2010 she qualified for the final two days later, where she came in fifth. On May 28, Safura took part in the celebration of Azerbaijan's Republic Day and performed on stage of Eurovision Village.

The singer performed in Bydgoszcz Hit Festival with the song Drip Drop. She was the official spokesperson of the Azeri voting in Eurovision Song Contest 2011 and 2012

Safura has signed a five-year contract with the Swedish record company Euteria. Her first album, titled It's My War, was released on 18 June 2010. "Drip Drop" was the first single released from It's My War. The second single to be released from It's My War was confirmed to be March On, which was released on August 20.

In July 2012, during the presentation of the videoclip for the song "Paradise", Alizadeh announced that she had terminated her contract with Euteria due to an intolerable limitations that the company had placed on her, including limiting her trips to her home country and banning her from using online social networks. She noted the possibility of seeking a contract with another European company.

Albums

• It's My War (2010)

Singles

On 5 July 2013, Safura married Farhad Aliyev, son of Azerbaijan's Minister of Industry and Energy of Azerbaijan Republic Natig Aliyev. She joined the ruling New Azerbaijan Party in 2011.