AySel | |
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AySel in 2009
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Background information | |
Also known as | AySel |
Born | April 25, 1989 |
Origin | Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union |
Genres | Pop, R&B |
Occupation(s) | singer, actress, photomodel |
Years active | 2005 – 2012 |
Labels | Warner Music, Sony BMG |
Associated acts | Arash |
Website | http://www.aysel.com/ |
Aysel Teymurzadeh (Azerbaijani: Aysel Məhəmməd qızı Teymurzadə; born 25 April 1989, Baku) is an Azerbaijani pop and R&B singer.
Aysel was born in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, the youngest of the three daughters of a journalist and university professor. She is a descendant of the nineteenth-century Azerbaijani author and journalist Hasan bey Zardabi. Her maternal grandmother was half-Russian, half-Ukrainian. Aysel started to sing at the age of four and the piano became her passion since childhood.
Aysel graduated from the Intellect Lyceum in Baku and attended Texas High School (Texarkana, Texas) in 2005–2006. Within days of her arrival in the United States, she signed up for the local choir and began training for young vocalists competitions. While in the U.S., Aysel won three gold medals at contests held in the Southern Arkansas University and in the University of Texas at Austin. In 2005, she participated in Season 4 of the national song contest Yeni Ulduz ("New Star"). As of January 2009, Teymurzadeh was majoring in International Relations at the Azerbaijan University of Languages.
In January 2009, Teymurzadeh was selected internally by İTV to represent Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia along with Iranian-Swedish singer Arash with the song "Always". Aysel became the first female singer to represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest and only the second act ever to do so. On May 16, 2009, Aysel Teymurzadeh and Arash finished third with 207 points, among the 25 performers that qualified for the Eurovision grand final.