After a marathon of a National Final that capped off a selection process that’s been in the works since way back in November, we finally know who will have the honor of defending her country’s title on home soil.  Five singers performed in the last round of Azerbaijan’s Milli Seçim Turu 2012, but only one singer could reign supreme:

In the end, it was Sabina (or, if you want to be Azeri about it, Səbinə) Babayeva, a 32-year-old veteran of last year’s National Selection.  She’s already somewhat of a household name in her home country; she was the voice behind the theme song to “Bəyaz həyat”, a local TV serial (check out her live performance of “Röya kimi”, performed during last year’s Milli Seçim Turu, here).

As part of the National Final, Sabina had to sing a variety of songs, including a number from Eurovision’s back catalogue.  In last year’s process, she took on “Molitva”:

This year, she gave “Hold On, Be Strong” a shot:

As for the song that Sabina will take to the Baku Crystal Arena, that is still to be seen.  As we saw last year, there’s often a bit of time that passes between the announcement of Azerbaijan’s winner and the song that he, she, or they will perform at the big event itself.  (About a month went by between Ell and Nikki’s win and the release of “Running Scared”.)

What do you think of Azerbaijan’s choice?  Leave a comment!