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Nikki Jamal
Ell and Nikki
Nikki with Ell at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011.
Background information
Birth name Nigar Jamal
Born September 7, 1980
Baku, Soviet Union (now Azerbaijan)
Genres Pop, R&B
Occupation(s) Singer
Years active 2010 - present
Website Official website


Nikki Jamal (born 7 September 1980 in Baku, Soviet Union) is an Azerbaijani singer who has been living in London since 2005. Jamal's singing genres include R&B, soul and pop music. She won the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with Eldar Gasimov when they performed under the pseudonym Ell & Nikki.

Biography[]

Early life[]

In 1997, she entered Khazar University, majoring in economics and management, and graduated in 2001. Before trying herself as a singer, Nigar Jamal had been a housewife for five years. In an interview to The Sun she confessed having once planned to participate on The X Factor but having narrowly missed the show's deadline. Jamal says she is inspired by the likes of Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, Brandy Norwood, Craig David and Chris Brown.

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, 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 Eldar Gasimov won the right to represent Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany in May 2011. They sang under the pseudonym Ell & Nikki 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 were printed. Germany also printed postage stamps to the value of €0.45. The production of postage stamps in both Azerbaijan and Germany were in dedication of Eldar and Nigar's victory at 2011 contest. In September 2011, it was announced that Nigar Jamal would appear in one of the episodes of the Turkish comedy series Yahşi Cazibe. Azerbaijan and Germany have issued a postage stamp dedicated to Nigar and Eldar's victory at Eurovision. In 2012, she was among five musicians from Azerbaijan chosen as the jury in the Danish national selection of the 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 winner Dima Bilan entitled "Come Into My World". On August 11, 2012, she released her debut album entitled "Play With Me". She has reportedly worked with Danish songwriter Boe Larsen for the album.

Personal life[]

Nigar Jamal lives in Enfield, London with her husband Haluk Cemal, who is of Turkish Cypriot origin, and their two daughters, Jasmine and Saida. She is an activist of the Make Roads Safe movement.

Discography[]

Singles[]

Year Single Chart positions Album
AUT BEL (VI) DEN (DL) GER IRE NL ROM RUS SVK SUI UK UK (TM)
2011 "Running Scared" (with Eldar Gasimov) 22 37 - 33 41 59 99 10 50 11 61 - Play With Me
"Crush On You" - - - - - - - - - - - -
2012 "Qal" ("Stay") (with Miri Yusif) - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Come Into My World" (with Dima Bilan) - - - - - - - - - - - - Play With Me
"Play With Me" - - - - - - - - - - - -
"One With The Music" - - - - - - - - - - - -
2013 "Sevdiyimə nifrət edirəm" ("I Hate The One I Love") - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Həyacanın Yaşı Yoxdur" - - 20 - - - - - - - - 1
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