Meet Azerbaijan's Eurovision 2021 act Samira Efendi who will sing Mata Hari
The Azerbaijani singer well and truly impressed with her song Mata Hari.
The first of the Eurovision 2021 semi-finals kicked off on Tuesday, 18th May as 16 countries in the Eurovision 2021 entries competed for a spot in the grand final.
One of those country's is Azerbaijan - who impressed as their entry Samira Efendi took the stage with her hit Mata Hari.
Mata Hari, which is a song about female power, saw Efendi secure a place in Saturday's Eurovision 2021 final.
Speaking of the song, Efendi explained: "It is very important to talk about strong women in order to remind our beautiful ladies that despite the fact that we still live in a world full of prejudices, a woman can do anything and female power cannot be compared with anything. And if suddenly you do not have enough inspiration now, let the stories of strong women in history become the source of that very charge of energy with which you can cope with everything and achieve even bigger success," she explained.
Since Azerbaijan made their debut in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008, they've qualified in every year except 2018.
So, will Efendi be able to take them all the way?
Here's everything you need to know about the star as Eurovision 2021 continues.
Who is representing Azerbaijan at Eurovision 2021?
Name: Efendi
Age: 30
Instagram: @efendi_music
Twitter: @Efendiofficial_
Singer Samira Efendi is no stranger to representing her country. After coming to national attention in several television talent contests - including coming third in The Voice of Azerbaijan - Efendi sang for Azerbaijan in international singing competitions Silky Way Star and Voice of Nur-Sultan.
So she knows the stage very well and should be able to put on quite the performance when the time comes.
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What is Azerbaijan's Eurovision 2021 song called?
When Efendi was meant to have competed in 2020, she had a song called Cleopatra (not of the "coming atcha" kind) but as the rules have stated that the same song cannot be used for 2021. she will now be performing Mata Hari.
There are four people credited as writing the song - Amy van der Wel, Luuk van Beers, Tony Cornelissen and Josh Earl.
You can listen to it below:
Where did Azerbaijan come in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest?
Azerbaijan put in quite the performance in 2019 with the song "Truth" performed by Chingiz nabbing them a spot in the top 10 - they went on to finish in 8th place and gained an impressive 302 points on the big night.
They will be looking to better that this year and they certainly have an act that has the potential to go far in the competition.
When is Eurovision 2021?
The Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final will take place on Saturday 22nd May 2021 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
BBC One will be broadcasting live coverage of the event, while Graham Norton commentates.
Ken Bruce will be providing commentary on BBC Radio 2.
The semi-finals will be held on Tuesday 18th and Thursday 20th May, and will be broadcast on BBC Four.
- For the latest news and expert tips on getting the best deals this year, take a look at our Black Friday 2021 and Cyber Monday 2021 guides.
Why was Eurovision 2020 cancelled?
Pesky COVID caused the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest to be cancelled as even the greatest singing show on Earth could not go ahead during the height of a global pandemic.
We did get to see some performances from years gone by thanks to the BBC airing Shine a Light and we also had Eurovision Come Together but neither came close to feeling like we were watching the real thing.
Want to buy the DVD of past performances? Then check out Eurovision 2018 here and Eurovision 2019 here.
The Eurovision Song contest 2021 will air on the BBC this May. Check out the full list of Eurovision winners here. If you're looking for something to watch tonight, check out our TV Guide.
