The night of 27February 2008 will go down in the Eurovision history as Greece’s spectacular National Final for the Contest in Belgrade. Three songs, three bright performances and one winner: Kalomira who was chosen to represent Greece in ESC 2008 with the song “Secret Combination”. But it was also the winners of the National Finals of Romania, Slovenia, Cyprus and Azerbaijan who made the day at the Greek Final.

Elnur and Samir, the Azerbaijani representatives at the ESC, quite impressed and even somewhat shocked the audience in Athens. “Day After Day”, the Azerbaijani Eurovision act, took largely by surprise the public, the journalists and celebrities alike by its sheer power and artistic presentation of the idea of the eternal opposition of good versus evil. The international audience widely praised the duet and their performance after the show. At the dress rehearsal, the Azerbaijani artists attracted attention of Ilias Psenakis, the manager of Kostas Martakis, one of the Greek contestants. Psenakis latter spoke about his first impressions of the “Day After Day” act:

“These are really strong competitors with a brilliant high voice of Elnur and the passion that Samir adds to the show. And the performance matters of course”. The Azerbaijani ambassador to Greece, MirHamza Efendiev, who also attended the show, was rather impressed by the song. At a meeting with Elnur and Samir he commented: “I’ve been to London. I attended several rock operas; that is why I think I can judge this performance. It is a very powerful act. This is a true struggle of Good and Evil. Fantastic, there is so much expression put in those three minutes.”

Journalists and guests at the National Final in Athens were curious about the feelings Elnur and Samir live through being the first representatives of their country at Eurovision. The journalists were quite impressed by Elnur’s desire to change the world for the better through the power of music. Elnur pledged to adopt a child if he wins in the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade. Samir, the Devil in the performance, admitted to his wish to build an asylum for homeless people later in his life. The next stop of the Day After Day Tour will be in Ventspils where the Azerbaijani duet will perform at the Latvian National Final on 1 March.