Nigar Aydin qizi Jamal (; az, Nigar Aydın qızı Camal (Mütəllibzadə), ; born 7 September 1980), sometimes known as Nikki Jamal, is an English-Azerbaijani singer. Born and raised in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

, she has resided in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

since 2005. She won the

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

with

Eldar Gasimov Eldar "Ell" Parviz oglu Gasimov ( az, Eldar Pərviz oğlu Qasımov; born 4 June 1989) is an Azerbaijani singer who successfully represented Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in the music duo Ell & Nikki with Nigar Jamal. He co-hosted ...

with the song " Running Scared". She and Gasimov have since performed as a duo on various occasions under the name

Ell & Nikki Ell & Nikki, also known as Eldar & Nigar (), are an Azerbaijani pop duo consisting of singers Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal. On 14 May 2011 they won the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 for Azerbaijan with their entry " Running Scared". It was the co ...

Early life

Jamal was born as Nigar Mutallibzadeh in

on 7 September 1980. In 1997, she entered

Khazar University Khazar University ( az, Xəzər Universiteti, which directly translates as Caspian University) is a private university located in Baku, Azerbaijan. Campuses Khazar University owns four campuses in the city of Baku and two campuses in regions of ...

, majoring in economics and management, finishing 3 out of 4 years. Before trying herself as a singer, Nigar Jamal had been a housewife for five years.Ross McGuinness
Eurovision Winner Nigar Jamal Revealed as Spurs Fan Living in London
Metro. 15 May 2011. Jamal says she is inspired by the likes of

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

Brandy Norwood Brandy Rayana Norwood (born February 11, 1979), better known by her mononym Brandy, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and model. She is known for her distinctive sound, characterized by her peculiar timbre, voice-layer ...

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single "Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta), Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger (UK band), Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ' ...

and

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

Career

Eurovision Song Contest 2011

In December 2010, Jamal took part in the Azerbaijani national selection, '' Milli Seçim Turu 2011''. Her first appearance was in Heat 7, placing joint first with 11 points, along with

Ilhama Gasimova Ilhama Gasimova ( az, İlhamə Qasımova; born 1976, Bala Şürük, Lankaran Rayon, Azerbaijan) is an Azerbaijani pop singer. Early life Ilhama Gasimova was born in the village of Bala Şürük and raised in Lankaran, where she graduated from s ...

, both qualifying to the semi-final. Jamal qualified from the semi-final along with four other artists to the final on 11 February 2011, where she and

won the right to represent Azerbaijan at the

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in May 2011. They sang under the pseudonym

the song " Running Scared" written by Stefan Örn and Sandra Bjurman from Sweden and Iain Farquharson from the UK, which won with a total of 221 points.

2011–present: After Eurovision

After winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 Jamal and Gasimov got to travel to a number of countries and perform their winning entry. In Azerbaijan 15,000 postage stamps in the denomination of 1

Azerbaijani manat The manat ( ISO code: AZN; sign: ₼; abbreviation: m) is the currency of Azerbaijan. It is subdivided into 100 ''gapiks''. The first iteration of the currency happened in the times of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and its successor, the Az ...

were printed. The production of postage stamps in Azerbaijan were in dedication of Eldar and Nigar's victory at the 2011 contest. In September 2011 it was announced that Nigar would appear in an episode of the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

series ''

Yahşi Cazibe ''Yahşi Cazibe'' is a Turkish comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or an ...

''. In 2012, she was among five musicians from Azerbaijan chosen as the jury in the Danish national selection for their 2012 Eurovision contestant. On 1 December 2011 Nikki presented her first post-Eurovision solo song and video clip ''"Crush on You"''. Other new material was released afterwards, including a duet with Miri Yusif entitled ''"Qal"'' ("Stay"); and another duet with

Eurovision 2008 The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcastin ...

winner

Dima Bilan Dima Nikolayevich Bilan (russian: Ди́ма Никола́евич Била́н; born Viktor Nikolayevich Belan, russian: Ви́ктор Никола́евич Бела́н, links=no; 24 December 1981) is a Russian singer, songwriter and acto ...

entitled ''"Come Into My World"''. On 11 August 2012, she released her debut album entitled ''"Play With Me"''. She has reportedly worked with

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

songwriter Boe Larsen for the album. In early 2014, she was a judge in the Turkish television show ''

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' and produced the winner of the show.

Discography

Albums

* 2014: ''Play With Me''

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jamal, Nigar 1980 births Living people Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Azerbaijan 21st-century Azerbaijani women singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2011 Azerbaijani emigrants to England English-language singers from Azerbaijan Khazar University alumni Musicians from Baku