Stockport Express chief reporter Pete Devine is going to be big in Baku this weekend.

Pete - who is also parent company MEN Media's Eurovision blogger - has been invited by the former Soviet Republic to attend the first ever national Azerbaijan final to choose a singer/group to represent the nation at May's Eurovision Song Contest, in Belgrade.

He said: "The Azerbaijanis are taking the national final extremely seriously and with three former Eurovision winners, including last year's star Serbia's Maria Serifovic, it is bound to be a spectacular event."

Pete's interest in Eurovision first started three years ago when friends encouraged him to attend the 50th party of the Eurovision, in Copenhagen.

He explains: "Since then, I have been hopelessly captivated. The appearance of Stockport's Daz Sampson in Athens two years ago just added to the excitement and interest.

"I guess it has just turned me into a Eurovision freak, but unlike Oasis, the music is fun."

Looking forward to an exciting final night in Baku, Pete added: "The final selection started back in October and now just three acts remain namely an opera singing Elnur Gusseinov, a Celine Dion soundalike Aynur Iskenderli and rock band Unformal who intend to woo the crowd with a mix of mugham and informal rock.

"Mugham is an Azerbaijani tradition where the performers transform their emotions into singing and music."

And as if to underline the importance of this event in contrast to the UK's often dismissive attitude Aynur says: "This will be a very great and significant event in my life. Alongside with this it is a big responsibility and I will do my best to achieve a good result."

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