Arash talks Eurovision experience: “We were interested, the rest is history!”

In 2009, Arash teamed up with Aysel to represent Azerbaijan in their second appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest. Ethno-pop anthem Always was an instant hit, finishing in 3rd place in Moscow. In a recent interview with The Music of Now, Arash looks back fondly on his Eurovision experience.

Arash approached for Eurovision in late 2008

The Music of Now asked Arash how his Eurovision participation came about:

“I had a big concert in Baku [at the] end of 2008 and when we were there that time, they told me to stay one extra day because some important people wanted to have a meeting with me and my team so we stayed! They asked us if I was interested in participating in Eurovision for them and we were interested. The rest is history!”

Arash was born in Iran and moved to Sweden when he was ten years old. While he has no connections to Azerbaijan, he has previously stated in an interview with EuroVisionary that his great grandfather was Azerbaijani. Nevertheless, this wasn’t the only reason he was happy to represent the Caucasian country:

“My love for Azerbaijan was also one of the reasons of course. I have met really amazing people there!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dKQR2m-Xfs

From strength to strength!

Arash had several hits prior to his Eurovision participation. Nevertheless, arguably one of his biggest hits of all came in 2012. She Makes Me Go featuring Sean Paul was a major chart hit throughout mainland Europe, notably hitting the top 5 in Germany. When The Music of Now asked him about how this collaboration happened, Arash responded:

“I did some shows before and I met Sean Paul. He is a cool guy. I wrote “She Makes Me Go” together with my main guy in the studio, Robert, and we thought of him. We knew he was a perfect match for that song and his voice is very unique.”

Listen to Arash’s hot new single!

The Iranian-Swedish star recently released a new single Se Fue featuring Mohombi. You can check out this new single by clicking here! He also states that he is working on a brand new single for later this year, a ballad featuring Helena. We can’t wait to hear that!

Where do Aysel and Arash rank in your list of favourite Azerbaijani entries? Would you like to see Arash return to Eurovision, or perhaps take part in Melodifestivalen? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and via our social media pages @ESCXTRA!