Nigar Jamal

Nigar Aydin qizi Jamal (née Mutallibzadeh Azerbaijani: Nigar Aydın qızı Camal (Mütəllibzadə); born 7 September 1980), sometimes known as Nikki Jamal, is an English-Azerbaijani singer. Born and raised in Baku, she has resided in London since 2005. She won the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with Eldar Gasimov with the song "Running Scared". She and Gasimov have since performed as a duo on various occasions under the name Ell & Nikki.

Nigar Jamal
Jamal performing as a part of Ell & Nikki in 2012 in Baku
Background information
Birth name	Nigar Mutallibzadeh
Also known as	Nikki Jamal
Born	(1980-09-07) 7 September 1980 Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, USSR
Genres	Pop R&B
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2011–present
Associated acts	Ell & Nikki Eldar Gasimov Dima Bilan
Website	www.nigarjamal.net

Early life

Jamal was born as Nigar Mutallibzadeh in Baku on 7 September 1980.[1] In 1997, she entered Khazar University, majoring in economics and management, finishing 3 out of 4 years. Before trying herself as a singer, Nigar Jamal had been a housewife for five years.[2] In an interview to The Sun she confessed having once planned to participate on The X Factor but having narrowly missed the show's deadline.[3] Jamal says she is inspired by the likes of Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, Brandy Norwood, Craig David and Chris Brown.[4]

Career

Eurovision Song Contest 2011

Nigar (left) and Eldar (right)

In December 2010, Jamal took part in the Azerbaijani national selection, Milli Seçim Turu 2011. Her first appearance was in Heat 7, placing joint first with 11 points, along with Ilhama Gasimova, both qualifying to the semi-final. Jamal qualified from the semi-final along with four other artists to the final on 11 February 2011, where she and Eldar Gasimov won the right to represent Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany in May 2011.[4][5][6] They sang under the pseudonym Ell & Nikki the song "Running Scared" written by Stefan Örn and Sandra Bjurman from Sweden and Iain Farquharson from the UK, which won with a total of 221 points.[7]

2011–present: After Eurovision

After winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 Jamal and Gasimov got to travel to a number of countries and perform their winning entry. In Azerbaijan 15,000 postage stamps in the denomination of 1 Azerbaijani manat were printed.[8] The production of postage stamps in Azerbaijan were in dedication of Eldar and Nigar's victory at the 2011 contest.[9] In September 2011 it was announced that Nigar would appear in an episode of the Turkish comedy series Yahşi Cazibe.[10]

In 2012, she was among five musicians from Azerbaijan chosen as the jury in the Danish national selection for their 2012 Eurovision contestant.[11]

On 1 December 2011 Nikki presented her first post-Eurovision solo song and video clip "Crush on You".[12] Other new material was released afterwards, including a duet with Miri Yusif entitled "Qal" ("Stay");[13] and another duet with Eurovision 2008 winner Dima Bilan entitled "Come Into My World".[14]

On 11 August 2012, she released her debut album entitled "Play With Me". She has reportedly worked with Danish songwriter Boe Larsen for the album.[15][16][17]

In early 2014, she was a judge in the Turkish television show X Factor and produced the winner of the show.

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Peak chart positions										Certifications
		AUT	BEL (Vl)	GER	IRE	NL	ROM	RUS	SVK	SUI	UK
2014	"Play With Me" [16]	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions											Certifications	Album
		TUR	AUT [18]	BEL (Vl) [19]	GER [20]	IRE [21]	NL [22]	ROM [23]	RUS [24]	SVK [25]	SUI [26]	UK [27]
2011	"Running Scared" (with Eldar Gasimov)	—	22	37	33	41	59	99	10	50	11	61	—	Play With Me
	"Crush On You"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2012	"Qal" ("Stay") (with Miri Yusif)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Come Into My World" (with Dima Bilan)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Play With Me
	"Play With Me"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"One With The Music"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Sevdiyimə nifrət edirəm" ("I hate the one I love")	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2015	"Broken Dreams"	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Herhalde" feat. Berksan	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

See also

• British Azerbaijanis
• Azerbaijani ballet
• Azerbaijani pop music
• Azerbaijani jazz

References

1. Nigar Camalın atasının vəziyyəti ağırdır Archived 2012-10-21 at the Wayback Machine (in Azerbaijani) 1news.az. 9 September 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2013
2. Ross McGuinness. Eurovision Winner Nigar Jamal Revealed as Spurs Fan Living in London. Metro. 15 May 2011.
3. Nigar Jamal: I wanted to do X-Factor instead of Eurovision. Today.az. 23 May 2011.
4. Siim, Jarmo. "Nigar & Eldar get gold in Azerbaijan". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
5. Hondal, Victor. "News - Azerbaijan sends Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal to Eurovision". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 14 February 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
6. "İctimai Televiziya və Radio Yayımları Şirkəti - "Eurovision-2011" Milli Finalının qalibi bəlli oldu" (in Azerbaijani). İTV. Archived from the original on February 14, 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
7. "Eurovision Song Contest 2011: review", The Telegraph, 15 May 2011. Accessed 15 May 2011.
8. "Stamps on Azerbaijan's Eurovision-2011 win issued". Retrieved 17 July 2011.
9. "Ell & Nikki (2011) IN POST STAMPS". Archived from the original on August 6, 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
10. "Нигяр Джамал станет актрисой (Nigar Jamal to Become Actress)" (in Russian). 1news.az. 2 September 2011. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
11. "ПРЕДСТАВИТЕЛИ АЗЕРБАЙДЖАНСКОГО ШОУ-БИЗНЕСА ВОШЛИ В СОСТАВ ЖЮРИ ПО ОТБОРУ УЧАСТНИКА ОТ ДАНИИ (REPRESENTATIVES OF AZERBAIJANI SHOW BUSINESS BECAME PART OF THE JURY FOR THE SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS FROM DENMARK)" (in Russian). Vesti.az. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
12. "Azerbaijan: Nikki Jamal (2011) releases 'Crush on You'". ESCDaily.com. 2 December 2011. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
13. "Azerbaijan: Nikki Jamal (2011) releases 'Qal'". ESCDaily.com. 24 April 2012. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
14. "Azerbaijan: Nigar Jamal (2011) duets with Dima Bilan (2006, 2008)". ESCDaily.com. 11 May 2012. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
15. "Danish songwriter headhunted by Azerbaijan's Nikki". EBU. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
16. "Nikki Jamal / Play With Me album". rutracker.org. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
17. "Azerbaijan: Nikki Jamal releases new album "Play With Me"". 11 August 2012. ESCDaily.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
18. "Running Scared". Peak Chart Position. Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
19. "Running Scared". Peak Chart Position. Ultratop 50. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
20. "Running Scared". Peak Chart Position. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
21. "Running Scared". Peak Chart Position. Irish Singles Chart. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
22. "Running Scared". Peak Chart Position. Single Top 100. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
23. "Running Scared". Peak Chart Position. Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
24. "Running Scared". Peak Chart Position. Russian Music Charts. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
25. "Running Scared". Peak Chart Position. IFPI. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
26. "Running Scared". Peak Chart Position. Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
27. "Running Scared". Peak Chart Position. UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 8 June 2012.

External links

• Media related to Nigar Jamal at Wikimedia Commons

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Lena with "Satellite"	Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest (with Eldar Gasimov as duo Ell & Nikki) 2011	Succeeded by Loreen with "Euphoria"
Preceded by Safura Alizadeh with "Drip Drop"	Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest (with Eldar Gasimov as duo Ell & Nikki) 2011	Succeeded by Sabina Babayeva with "When the Music Dies"