Baku, May 15 (AZERTAC). The Azerbaijan`s State Committee on the Work with Diaspora congratulated Diaspora organizations functioning abroad as the country had been crowned the winner of this year`s Eurovision Song Contest in Germany.

Azerbaijan`s Eldar Gasimov and Niga Jamal, known as Ell/Nikki, won with their duet "Running Scared." Italy finished in second place while Sweden was third in the 56th annual edition of the contest that is famous for light entertainment and heavy-duty kitsch.

In the congratulatory letter, the Committee says “this victory is the achievement of all the people of Azerbaijani, including those who live abroad”.

The Committee thanked the Diaspora for its active participation in the voting and “great” support.

The letter described the victory as “result of national unity and solidarity of the Azerbaijani people.” The Committee also praised attention and care by the Azerbaijani state to development of the country`s culture and art.

It is the first time that Azerbaijan has won the contest in its 56-year history, having only joined Eurovision in 2008.

After an exciting voting in front of tens of thousands of people in a fully packed Düsseldorf Arena and millions of TV viewers all over Europe, it was finally Ell/Nikki from Azerbaijan who received the highest number of points from televoters and juries from the 43 countries participating in this year`s edition of Europe`s favourite TV-show! Ell/Nikki managed to gather 221 points altogether - followed by Raphael Gualazzi from Italy with 189 points and Sweden`s Eric Saade who collected 185 points.