🇦🇿 That Eurovision Review: Big visuals and Atmosphere for Fahree in his first rehearsal

Today the rehearsals for Eurovision 2024 scontinue in Malmö. Countries rehearsing on Day 2 include Iceland, Slovenia, Finland, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Australia, Portugal, and Luxembourg. The fifth to rehearse today is Azerbaijan’s Fahree.

Fahree’s first rehearsal

The next act to take to the Eurovision 2024 stage at Malmö Arena in Malmö was Azerbaijan’s Fahree. Fahree will be competing in this year’s competition with his entry “Özünlə apar” following his internal selection by ITV.

Following Fahree’s first rehearsal, a clip of what went on was posted on the official TikTok account of the Eurovision Song Contest. The clip shows his before and after he took to the Eurovision stage for the first time, as well as giving us some insight into how well his first rehearsal went.

What did we learn about Fahree’s staging?

Fahree is joined on stage by Mugham vocalist Ilkin Dovlatov, and both are dressed in black, with Fahree’s costume futuristically decorated with silver, and Ilkin’s with sparkling sleeves. On stage the performers remain by themselves, with the lighting and visuals behind them raising the stakes of their performance and holding the audience’s interest, including a figure looming over them with outstretched hands crowned in silver. The performers are expressive, the visuals are dramatic, and it comes together as more than the sum of its parts.

What we thought of Fahree’s first rehearsal

After Fahree’ first rehearsal, Jazzi gave her initial thoughts on the snippet that we saw.

Who is Fahree

FAHREE, who is the stage name for singer Fakhri Ismayilov, is fairly new to the music industry. In 2022 FAHREE released his debut single “Dance”. While FAHREE has a masters and Bachelors in Law, the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic made him realise he wanted to focus on music. FAHREE has released two other singles outside his debut and Eurovision song, they are entitled “Apardı uzaqlara” and “Yollar”.

Ilkin Dovlatov has also only been in the Azerbaijani music industry a short time. In 2023, Ilkin took part in The Voice Azerbaijan. Ilkin finished the competition as the runner-up. As well as The Voice, Ilkin has also taken part in the Azəri Star competition. Alongside his Eurovision song, Ilkin has released two further tracks “Ters” and “Geceler”.

FAHREE and Ilkin Dovlatov’s Eurovision 2024 song “Özünlə apar” was written by FAHREE himself alongside Edgar Ravin, Hasan Haydar, Mason Salikh and Mila Miles. Hasan and Edgar also produced the song.

Azerbaijan’s Eurovision Journey

Azerbaijan is a powerhouse in Eurovision, first debuting in 2008 with the song “Day After Day” by Elnur & Samir, finishing 8th. The country has since gone on to achieve five top-5 performances, including one win in 2011. Azerbaijan has a near perfect qualification record, only failing to make the final in 2018 and 2023.

For 2023, Azerbaijan was represented by twins TuralTuranX with their song “Tell Me More”. Perfoming in the first semi-final, the duo failed to qualify for the final for the second time, receiving only 4 points from the televote.

What do you think of “Özünlə apar”? SECOND SENTENCE? Let us know your thoughts! Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok as we prepare for Eurovision 2024!

News Source: That Eurovision Site / Eurovision.tv

Photo Credit: Sarah Louise Bennett / Corinne Cumming