Youth initiative group for Eurovision-2012 formed

Wed 15 February 2012 12:39 GMT | 17:39 Local Time

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An initiative group "Step in" has been set up to help young people get involved in the Eurovision Song Contest and promote Azerbaijan.

The head of the group and chairman of the Debate in Civil Society public union, Shahin Seyidzade, announced the group's aims at a press conference today, Gun.Az reported.

He said that the independent group, set up by young people, aimed to learn young people's creative ideas and to help them to realize those ideas ahead of the contest.

“Nearly 40,000 visitors from 43 countries are expected to come to our country in May. The majority of them do not know about us. So we should take advantage of this opportunity to raise their awareness about the national and cultural heritage of Azerbaijan and the realities of Karabakh," Seyidzade said.

"Our promotional work can also awaken people's interest. The whole world is watching Azerbaijan and the number of people interested in its culture is increasing day by day. Our aim is to form a positive image of the country and to take advantage of this opportunity.”

A website, Stepin.Az, will be launched and the initiative group will use social networks, flash mobs and other events and produce a range of videos, Seyidzade said.

“Youngsters can send their ideas to info@stepin.az. We will analyse them and try to implement them. I think that the financing issue will not be difficult because all work concerning this contest is interesting and I think that we will find many organizations and companies to support those ideas.”

A member of the group, Chairwoman of the State Economic University’s Student Youth Organization Nargiz Huseynova said that Azerbaijani young people should be as active as possible.

“It is very important for the visitors to have positive thoughts and impressions about our country and we should use our ideas and energy to serve our country in this connection.”

Young producer Elgun Jamal in turn said that young people should not expect others to take the initiative but should take it themselves.

“By forming ‘Step in’, we want to unite youngsters who have ideas and work together. We can already feel the interest of youngsters in this and they are already offering us their support.”

News.Az