Farid Mammadov: Get to Know Azerbaijan’s Eurovision Singer

Farid Mammadov, the easy-on-the-eyes singer who will sing “Hold Me” at Eurovision, has a lot more to him than that chiseled face. His publicity team were kind enough to send us some vitals, and now we’re all too happy to share them with you!

Farid’s song “Hold Me” was composed by Dimitrios Kontopoulos, the producer behind Eurovision songs from Ani Lorak and Sakis Rouvas. It’s a really powerful number, which you guys are already praising on our discussion post. But the song would be nothing without such a stellar performer. Farid, clearly a sensitive guy with a soul, feeds it emotion. Gobble, gobble, gobble!

You’ll be pleased to know that Farid is passionate about sport. According to his publicity team:

He enjoys participating in freestyle wrestling which is regarded as the national sport of Azerbaijan. There is no doubt that he inherited this sporting abilities from his mother who was a silver medallist for the USSR in gymnastics
and his father who used to be a successful judoist.

So basically if he doesn’t make it past the semi-finals he is going to body slam any dude who beats him.

Farid, 21, started turning heads at the age of eight when his vocal coach asked him to sing Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” at his first concert. The audience loved it—and Farid loved the rapturous applause. That might explain why Stevie Wonder continues to influence his taste in music.

But the “Hold Me” singer doesn’t just sing. He also writes.

Farid started writing his own songs at sixteen. During the semi-final of the national selection he performed his own song Gel Yanima (Come To Me). Not only is Farid a talented pop artist but also an accomplished Mugham singer which is a form of traditional Azerbaijani folk music and vocal art.

We need to hear Farid’s composition:

Do you guys know any other interesting facts about Farid? You can let us know in the comments box below. You can also let us know what you think about Farid’s Eurovision entry “Hold Me” by visiting our discussion post.