Azerbaijan's Box Choreography Achieves Second

MAY 15 2013 · 12:20

Farid Mammadov · "Hold Me" · Azerbaijan · 2013 Placement: 2 · Score: 234 · Language: English · Composers: Dimitris Kontopoulos, John Ballard · Venue: Malmö Arena · Host: Malmö, Sweden · Type: performance innovation · Broadcast: streaming era Farid Mammadov — Azerbaijani baritone, dark suit, steady vocal — performs 'Hold Me' with a signature staging: a transparent glass box at the front of the stage in which a male dancer contorts and writhes throughout the song, mirroring Mammadov's emotional arc. The box becomes the visual signature of the 2013 Eurovision staging vocabulary. 234 points for 2nd place. Emmelie de Forest wins for Denmark. Context Dimitris Kontopoulos had written for Russia and Greece. The 'man in a box' choreography was developed by the Azerbaijani production team specifically as a visual metaphor for emotional captivity. Azerbaijan had won 2011 and hosted in 2012; 2013 was the post-peak consolidation. Legacy The glass-box-with-dancer staging has been referenced and copied across subsequent Eurovisions. Mammadov continued an Azerbaijani classical-pop career. 'Hold Me' was the last high-ranking Azerbaijani entry before the 2015 results slump. The 2013 card is frequently cited in Eurovision staging-design scholarship.