Azerbaijan Nadir Rustamli Fade to Black Eurovision 2022 rehearsal
Photo: EBU / NATHAN REINDS

Eurovision 2022 second rehearsals continue this afternoon with Azerbaijan’s Nadir Rustamli. The “Fade To Black” singer performed in front of the press for the first time. How did he do? Let’s find out…

Azerbaijan’s Nadir Rustamli “Fade To Black” — Eurovision 2022 second rehearsal

Padraig: Black, black and more black. It’s not so much a case of fading to black as being black throughout. Nadir’s staging is very dark, think Bulgaria’s Equinox in 2018 but with even fewer light bulbs. And whilst shadows can create a moody atmosphere, they can become a problem if they’re overdone. It’s hard to connect with the singer if you can’t look him in the eye. Lighting aside, the staging primarily consists of a bleacher like what fans would sit on at a sports field. Nadir is perched near the top, while a male dancer occupies the bottom row. They mimic each other’s movements, first sitting, then lying, and finally walking across the seats. The prop then splits into two with the men stranded on opposite sides. The storytelling isn’t immediately clear. Is the dancer supposed to be a past self, a platonic friend, an inner demon or a former lover? That’s all open to interpretation. Vocally, Nadir does an excellent job at singing dramatically. Although, especially during the first take, his words were muffled and it became difficult to make out the lyrics.

Reaction to Azerbaijan’s second rehearsal at Eurovision 2022

@wiwibloggs_official #Azerbaijan’s @NADIR RUSTAMLI takes to the stairs for his 2nd #Eurovision rehearsal. @jonathanvautrey watches and reacts 🇦🇿 #ESC2022 #Eurovision2022 #TheSoundOfBeauty #FadeToBlack ♬ original sound – wiwibloggs

What do you think? How will Nadir do in the semi-final? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

19 Comments
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Azan
Azan
1 year ago

OMG soo good!!!

Mariia
Mariia
1 year ago

just like I said Azerbaijan will be high

ete sech
ete sech
1 year ago

Grest vocals and nice staging, but such a terrible song :s

ete sech
ete sech
1 year ago
Reply to  ete sech

* great

New York Muffin
New York Muffin
1 year ago

Nadir has really surprised me here. I hated this as a song to listen to–but I LOVE it as a work of musical theater. Seeing it performed this way really changed my mind about it.

Purple Mask
Purple Mask
1 year ago

Beautiful theatre, professionally done. Probably the song with the darkest tone in 2022, yet the dark drama is excellently produced. Truly unexpected. Bravo.

Jake
Jake
1 year ago

This won the press poll today!! Yowzers. What are we missing here that other outlets think this is amazing. Some of the words he is saying are intelligible. Must be the vocals.

escfan24
escfan24
1 year ago

His vocals are incredible

Xxx
Xxx
1 year ago

Good vocals, bland song. I don’t need this in the final.

Im so fab
Im so fab
1 year ago

I still hate this with passion.

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
1 year ago

His vocals are really impressive. Combined with an artsy (but without making a whole lot of sense) staging, this could be enough to get enough jury support to just about sneak through.

Colin
Colin
1 year ago
Reply to  Briekimchi

Better Azerbaijan than Malta, for sure. I need Poland, Estonia, Sweden, and Serbia in, and then the other places are more open for me. I can see Azerbaijan climbing over Australia, Belgium, and San Marino for me, and going through. His vocals are indeed impressive. 🙂

Briekimchi
Briekimchi
1 year ago
Reply to  Colin

I’ve got all of your “needs” amongst my qualifiers. Azerbaijan is my 2nd in this semi final surprisingly enough but would be 6th if it was competing in the other semi final (Semi Final 1 is SO strong).
Going to try and avoid moving too much around until the actual contest now. Moving France up a few spots is going to be my FINAL move, I promise!

Colin
Colin
1 year ago
Reply to  Briekimchi

I agree, semi 1 is a bit stronger one, even if there are a few amazing songs in the semi 2 as well. While I haven’t moved my list thus far, I can definitely see doing so soon. Last thing I did was added that 0.5 to Spain, and upped my score to 8.5. So far, I see a few potential shifts, including Greece being even higher. I am happy that you have all these 4 as your qualifiers, as well as warming up to France. 🙂

Dane
Dane
1 year ago

This guy can sing! He must qualify.

Shift_key
Shift_key
1 year ago

Sick of these lifeless pop songs from Azerbuyjan every year

Sir Stevia
Sir Stevia
1 year ago
Reply to  Shift_key

This is a pop song? LOL

New York Muffin
New York Muffin
1 year ago
Reply to  Sir Stevia

It’s not a song lol, it’s more like musical theater. I can’t stand when it comes on during my 2022 eurovision playlist, but I think it works well as a 3 minute TV performance.

Sim
Sim
1 year ago
Reply to  Shift_key

good point, azerBUYjan. 😀 well, yes, they are going this way- if you can´t make it, buy it! 😀