Expat teacher hopes to represent Azerbaijan in Eurovision

Nicola Barclay, 26, who works at The International School of Azerbaijan in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, decided to enter the competition after receiving encouragement from a young man who heard her singing in a local bar.

“I have always loved music and singing," she told Telegraph Expat. "I just love the buzz I get from performing. One day, I was singing in a bar in Baku, and a boy approached me and suggested I apply for Eurovision. At the time, I didn't know you could represent any country, but I looked into it, and thought - why not give it a try?”

Ms Barclay has now defeated hundreds of other applicants to take her place in Azerbaijan's finals, which are scheduled for early February.

Her success in last's week semi-finals caused some controversy, as the number of votes she received was actually too low to keep her in the competition. The judges were so impressed with her rendition of the Rihanna song Russian Roulette however that they made a successful appeal to the Eurovision panel for her to be allowed to go forward with the other seven remaining contestants.

“I've been told that I got through because the judges thought I was the most professional, but I also think it’s because I am different over here,“ she said. “It makes the show more interesting, and attracts viewers who maybe otherwise would not have been interested.”

To participate in the competition, Ms Barclay has had to sing in both English and the Azerbaijani language, Azeri. “When I first started learning to sing in Azeri, it was very difficult, but like anything, if you practise enough you soon get used to it," she said. ”The hardest part is the pronounciation. There are many sounds in the Azeri language which we don’t have in English so it’s difficult to speak them, never mind sing them.”

Ms Barclay said that her pupils at the International School had been very supportive, with many “coming in first thing the next morning to ask about my performance the night before, and some even coming the studio to watch.”

The PE teacher moved from Livingston, West Lothian to Azerbaijan in August this year.

She said: “Many people have asked why I am doing this and I tell them I never moved to Azerbaijan with the intention to represent them in Eurovision. I love singing and if this opportunity came up in any country I would take it.”

2011 will mark Azerbaijan's fourth year of participation in the song contest, which has been an annual event since it was first broadcast in 1956. This year, it will take place in Düsseldorf, Germany on May 14.

One of the most well-known singers to have represented a country other than their own in the contest is Canadian Celine Dion, who won for Switzerland in 1988.