From land of fire to land of robots.
At Azerbaijan’s first rehearsal at Eurovision 2019, Chingiz brought staging A-game.
The performance starts with robots projecting a heart onto his chest.
Behind him a giant yellow heart pulses, which then explodes during the chorus.
The staging of “Truth” is heavy on impressive special effects which explains why Azerbaijan is closing the show.
In a press release Chingiz says:
“I love my staging, it’s absolutely cool! Obviously, the inspiration behind it is my entry song, ‘Truth’. The idea is that my heart is broken and I need to replace it with a bionic one.”
Spoiler Alert: At the climax of the song there is a moment where all the light on the stage is drawn to him and he vanishes into the ceiling which prompted spontaneous applause in the press centre.
Bottom line: Azerbaijan has spent shekels on this and it shows. Chingiz sounds fabulous, the song is elevated up by staging, and they are going to the final.
Chingiz — “Truth”: Reviews and Reactions
Azerbaijan: First rehearsal at Eurovision 2019
Azerbaijan: First press conference 2019
Read all of our Eurovision rehearsal reviews
Photo: EBU
Just a suggestion, but maybe they should allocate the pots (toi SF1 and SF2) after the songs are announced, according to betting odds. Now we have a super strong SF2, and not so strong SF1. Complete opposite of last year…
A song that had been growing on me since its release. Didn’t know how to rank it originally because it was a bit too slick to really connect with. The staging gives it that immediate clicking mechanism though.
what?? do yall think this will win because of some alien abduction? or whatever it is? try harder
It’s Artsvik all over again, except that he will probably do better.
Well I liked Artsvik a lot. 🙂 And yes, the “beaming” is cool. But it’s more than that – the song has a great hook, and the vocals and sounds are awesome.
Thank you. Artsvik was really good!
@ Jo. Yes It can win. Best show by far
A late contender. Yaaaass.
Some of us were really sleeping on this one before.
I already like the song. I love the staging. 😀
I really like the song and the music video, it’s great to see that the artistic vision has translated to something innovative and unusual the stage.
You should check out some of his other songs, Purple.
Yeah he is good, but I like his Eurovision song the best. That’s rare, and it’s a very positive sign for Azerbaijan at the contest this year.
same, that staging feels so syfy, star trek (i am a huge star trek fan myself, all things syfy) nice backdrop too, and chingiz’s live singing is so good
those robot arms also a nice touch for the staging
I’d recommend The Expanse to you both too then! (If you haven’t seen it already)
Yes absolutely. I have the feeling it will be top 3. Duncan and Sergey are very tough competitors and we haven’t yet seen Mahmood. But still I think it’s winning material.
I thought so too about Sergey, but after seeing how they are staging it I think there is a chance there and don’t forget the vast influence of Russia in so many countries plus diaspora… Indeed good point about Kate and Katerine. Conan I dont’t know… 😀 But I am being maybe overly pessimistic as a precautionary measure for my country, I guess 🙂 (I am the type of guy who didn’t put Portugal in my predictions to qualify in 2017, so not to jinxs it, so… 🙂 )
It seems quite effective to me. It’s more than mirrors. It’s effectively eight other Sergeys interacting with him. I haven’t seen the full thing but it seems to tell the story well and never seen on stage. But yeah I get the point that musically it is highly overrated… On Portugal, well, may your words be heard by God, as we say in PT… 😀
Point taken 🙂 So curious how this turn out. Anyway if Russia would have sent this last year, we would have seen a different outcome I’m sure… That relates to a point you made above, that musically this year is so much better than last year or even 2017 and 2016.
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Chingiz has an advantage , his vocals demonstrates how well he can sing the song. He indeed has a very powerful voice. Look at the bit at the end of the clip from the EBU where he cries out loud, wow he’s going to give people goose bumps. I think this will be one of those songs which demonstrates that the live version is better than the studio version. If this is sustained I think he is for a shot to win this years Eurovision. The clip provided by the EBU shows this with the bit where he cries, and… Read more »
The blending of his backing vocalists with his voice is just amazing… not surprised to learn that Alex Panayi is his vocal coach!! This is a big big grower, could see it winning it all
And the award for making a song pop with creative staging goes to Azerbaijan! Chingiz will receive the trophy from the hands of DoReDos, obviously. I particularly love his outfit and how they managed to find such a fun way to stage a broken heart song. I still think the song is only nice and won’t make a good winner, but the package is very effective, I can see why the odds are responding so quickly. Need to check his vocals yet, but the delegation should be proud about the miracle they just performed.
Much, much better. So the ceiling here is also much much higher.
Ufff… Good that you said that. I was afraid for a moment eh eh eh
Hahaha, you can breath now, L’oiseau! Without the visuals, “Truth” is a 6 to 7 song for me. “My Lucky Day” would be between 4 and 5. Azerbaijan has a very enjoyable and decent song. It’s just not what I would expect for a winner. But between this and the dirty dancing, I’m team Chingiz all the way.
Oh God… yes… Dirty dancing does not do it for me at all. On your point on the jury, I really think that Azerbeijan is a strong contender to win the jury’s vote like last year’s Austria (funny enough both song by Symphonix). The thing is to see how the televote reacts, but I don’t see that flanking in the televote either… So, I would bet money I would definitively bet heavy on Azerbeijan right now.
In my opinion, Austria had a better song. But I think jury winner would be too much for both. I believe Azerbaijan will do great with the televote. The song is pretty enjoyable, current, well produced and doesn’t have much of a rejection, the staging is creative, Chingiz is handsome as hell… I can blame a juror for putting it too high, but I think the audience has plenty of reasons to vote for it.
I think it won’t be the case, but in a scenario where the jury and the televote go for different things, this has at least as much of a chance as Sweden and Malta and even more than Cyprus and Switzerland. I believe someone will lose big time here, because there aren’t enough “safe mainstream” votes for all this crowded field.
Azerbaijan could be this year’s jury vote winner. “Dare to predict.”
If Sweden did so well with the jury last year, this could do too, the final package seems stronger. But then we would go back to the discussion about the lack of diversity on the juries, that sometimes act almost as a televote of experts, going for what’s easy on the eyes and not rewarding the best songs and those who take more risks.
I totally agree with you. Maybe EBU is worried about having winners without much popular support but the chance of it happening is minimal.
I think there are 13 songs with statistical chance of winning, based on my calculations:
1 Netherlands 30%
2 Italy 16%
3 Russia 15%
4 Iceland 14%
5 Switzerland 11%
6 Azerbaijan 8%
7 Greece 8%
8 Malta 7%
9 Cyprus 7%
10 Sweden 4%
11 Australia 2%
12 France 1%
13 Denmark 1%
Spain can join them tomorrow…
Denmark is 20th in the betting odds, has decent youtive views and spotify streams. I agree that it will not probably win, but the statistical probability of 1% cannot be rejected with 95% precision, at least for now.
I am surprised that you think Russia and Switzerland cannot win? I am not a big fan of the either song, but I think there are a lot of people who see a realistic chance for them.
I follow your logic, and I agree mostly, but juries are unpredictable. If they heavily back either La Suisse ou La Russie, anything is possible. Also God knows what people vote for, they voted for Estonia in 2000…. (still my biggest shock).
Jenny B is shook that her robots fled from San Marino to Baku after the shade they experienced last year. ‘It’s me, Jenny B and my robot refugee’.
This is when there are money in country!!!!
Something big is happening! Well done Azerbaijan 🙂 But I don’t want him to win. The song is not memorable enough.
Top3! And I like his outfit ?
I don’t know. Do you?
Azerbaijan has always been my favorite since the day of its release, this was so underrated before! I am so thrilled to see this at #4 on the betting odds! Baku 2020 is very very possible. My current Top:
1.Azerbaijan
2.Greece
3.Russia
They should have it in G?nc?, or Ming?çevir
He’s done an Eleni, best rehearsal of the day and the contest so far IMO (Sorry Greece)
I never understood why Azerbaijan fell out of the radar. Since its release its been my first place and reading all of this SERIOUSLY thrills me. I am happy to see that Chingiz finally gets the attention he deserved from the get go. Go for gold, beautiful man!!!
Now he’s 4th in the odds!
A pompous staging up to date. This is how it is done Russia. Though “Truth” was good even without the staging. I need to see more of it in order to give a complete review, but the snippet and what I read really looks like Azerbaijan is aiming for a top 5 placing. Very promising. I was a bit worried about those high notes, but he and his backvocalists sound pretty good together.
I’ve been feeling this since its release! Go on Chingiz!
This was by far the best rehearsal of the second semifinal . Anyway, generally speaking the second semifinal is way more stronger than the first. I am curious to see what Italy has done in the stage presentation.
This may be a surprise winner.
Totally agree. Only with Azerbaijan i felt the winner vibes. The hologram with the heart, the lights, the triangle , the effects, everything works perfectly. Azerbaijan brings something new this year in the technological level.
lol zero chances against Sergey.
Love this!!!! Really dig the outfit as well!!!!
Yes, the outfit is terrific.
I am officially thrilled, can’t wait for the show. Kick-ass, Chingiz!!!!!
Azerbaijan has been in my top 3 so I’m really happy reading this.
But also, my goodness he’s hot.
Chigniz juist had a spectacular climb in the odds from nr 13 to nr 5 and counting!!! Everbody was looking for this year’s Fuego. Here it is… And I feel really good about it, because it’s my nr. 4 and I it has been hugely underrated… I feel winning potential here, guys
wow he’s get 4th place in the odds
I hate when I say this, but I told you so: This is the BOP of this year!!
It’s been one of my favourites from the start and he didn’t dissapoint! So glad the time for Chingiz to take some recognition came! He killed it today and damn those vocals are amazing!
You mean average song but great performance? Just like Fuego last year. The betting odds before rehearsals did in a better way reflect quality of the actual songs as they didn’t mix visual distractions into it. Now the betting odds doesn’t go by quality at all anymore..
I can not answer your question cuz you are referring to the betting odds.. as I can see you think that they reflect the real quality of the songs before rehearsals. I don’t think they reflect quality neither before, nor after the rehearsals.. I coudn’t care less about them and obviously I do not think Arcade (first before and after rehearsals) or Scream (second) have the best quality this year! I’m just saying Truth was my favourite BOP this year and visuals ( but in the first place those AMAZING VOCALS) only made it better now, after the rehearsal! Simple… Read more »
Fascinating stuff today. Watching the Netherlands and Russia made me think “I want to be wowed more”. Then, when Azerbaijan did that, I thought “wow but ESC should not be just about gimmicks and impressive tricks”.
I think there has to be a balance between the song quality and the ESC spectacle that most of us expect and so far I don’t know which country delivers that the best. Hopefully, the proper angles etc. will shed some light.
Here’s your ”You’re the only one” 😛
Great staging (not connected with the song tho), great looks and confidence, not impressed by vocals, I find that falsetto rather annoying. Sure Q ofc, the question is how far could this go..
Aaaaand we found bookmakers’ Eleni Foureira for 2019. Though I also see Spain’s Miki going up tomorrow…
*Miki’s first rehearsal is on Friday.
Maybe it smells a bit like a hype bomb coming, but to be fair – you’ve got to praise a delegation, when they deserve it. And boy, what a staging it is. This year Azerbaijan is thinking outside of the box and giving us a great show, worth being in top 10.
Very impressive leap in the odds from azerbaijan. Im interested to what baku 2020 would look like. Azerbaijan has gained a lot of experience with hosting international events in this last decade.
all this is too much
I preferred the costume that he wore in the video.
I know there are a lot of efforts and things being planned perfectly by Ictimai for this performance, but ironically saying it became the Sergey Lazarev of its year.
Aside of my own dislike towards Azerbaijan’s approach, realistically this will go comfortably through the final with that staging and confidence. But again, I’m kind of sad to say, I don’t really like the fact that Chingiz was just being Ictimai’s device. Eventhough he wrote ‘Truth’, there’s not much trace of him in this performance.
good point.
Top 10 for sure!
This was much better than Sweden and will qualify so much higher. It maybe goes again to Baku, according to you a backward country, of course, according to your supramacist views. Step up your game or be loosers forever.
Oj, it’s you, the obsessive stalker writing same stuff over and over. At least come up with something new than your tired supremacist stuff. It’s a broken record by now
Seeing how this song is written, produced and recorded by Swedes in Sweden your hatred for everything Swedish must really go overboard. It’s even choregraphed by Swedes. Your ears must be bleeding listening to this!
Actually, I love it, you moron. I don’t hate Sweden as I said countless times. You think you are so inteligent, you can even read straight… I just hate racists like you who are butthurt that non-Nordics will win the contest. And besides, Symphonix is not an exclusively Swedish team and he had many people that were not from Sweden helping him like the visual designer and the coach. So stuff it in your brain made of rotten Ikea-feces-loaded meatballs
Baku 2020? He is 5th in the odds
It is not going to be Stockholm 2020 either… jealousy jealousy
WOW! Semi 2 is tough af. Especially the 2nd part!
SO lucky to have placed a nice bet on him at 51/1.
Best performance of all semifinalists, and a real threat to victory. Back to Baku 2020?
how much did you put on?
Naah, wont exactly be a RICH man on the 19th in case he wins… Didn’t dare to bet that much. But heard him practicing with his backing singers last week, and that fab voice convinced me in a sec…
I also got him at 50/1.
I, however, literally placed the bet on him DURING the Netherlands rehearsal. As soon as the Netherlands was received kinda lukewarmly, I started looking at who might be a riser.
But hey, this happened with Netta and Eleni last year. Netta still ended up winning so I’m not counting my winnings yet. 😉
Damn, Azerbaijan is in it to win it. I’m so impressed – it’s futuristic, artistic, simply fantastic, so different from the rest of the acts. Excellent closer of the semi, that is certainly going to battle for a top 5 finish.
was it THAT good to be 6th in the odds ? the song is the typical awfully generic song from azerbaijan that doesn’t do much in the end so idk
I think people are reacting to the staging with that hologram thing. I watched it online and the reaction when it happened was natural and everyone was wowed. So, I could see the same reaction from the viewers that watch it live the first time. The song itself is ok imo.
He is 5th in the odds. It was so perfect; from greece with love ??
All is full of love björk copyright.
The fact that there are robots on stage doesn’t mean that it’s an “All is full of love” video copycat.
Dark horse! Wow Azerbaijan skyrocketed in the odds :O
This was the best performance of both of the semi finals! I literally had tears in the mugham part. I was watching through the press center live broadcast. They said that Azerbaijan had the best reaction from the press center in total. Also Azerbaijan rose up to 8th from 13th in odds. Get that trophy back to the land of fire Chingiz! Baku 2020
Already 6th in the odds! 😀
lmfao azerbaijan better start buying votes from half of europe like they did in their gold days if they want the trophy in baku
Honetsly, what’s your problem with Azerbaijan? Why so much hate?! chill!
@ Polegend Godgarina you are so jelaous! At least Azerbaijan cant buy bookmakers opinion
jealous of what, their melfest rejects ? it’s true they (used to) buy votes, they were literally exposed.
He’s already risen 7 places in the betting odds from 13th to 6th… This could be a real threat!
Indeed
Ok, this is really cool; but how this is in connection between the meaning and the staging?
does this song have a meaning at all
Lol 😀