Azerbaijan releases Efendi's Eurovision 2020 song 'Cleopatra'

10 March 2020 at 12:17 CET

Efendi, Azerbaijan's Eurovision 2020 representative Farhad Ali

Azerbaijan's public broadcaster İctimai has revealed that they will enter Eurovision 2020 with 'Cleopatra', by Efendi (formerly known as Samira Efendi). The song was written by Luuk van Beers, Alan Roy Scott and Sarah Lake and was produced together with Tony Cornelissen.

Cleopatra features an ethnic sound with 3 traditional Azerbaijani instruments; an oud (a traditional guitar-like string instrument), a balaban (a wind instrument) and a tar (a string instrument added to the UNESCO's List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity).

About her song, Efendi says: "Cleopatra is a song about trusting your gut instinct, standing up for yourself and being a “queen” - even when things get tough and especially if someone betrays or hurts you. It is truly a song about freedom, a celebration of all cultures and all sexualities and it’s a song that is meant to inspire people to be who they are and to be proud of themselves - just as Cleopatra was. She was a queen who went through love, heartbreak, and betrayal, but she stood up for herself and is now remembered as an icon of strength and femininity."

The music video for Cleopatra was filmed in Azerbaijan at the Gobustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve.

How do you like Azerbaijan's Eurovision 2020 entry? Let us know in the comments!

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Posted 28 February 2020 at 10:34 CET

Meet Azerbaijan's Eurovision 2020 artist Samira Efendi

Azerbaijan's Eurovision 2020 participant Samira Efendi İctimai

Public broadcaster Ictimai has confirmed that singer Samira Efendi will represent Azerbaijan at Eurovision 2020. The broadcaster selected the singer through an internal process.

5 candidates competed to represent Azerbaijan in Rotterdam: Efendi, Laman Dadasheva, Elvin Novruzov, Jabrail Rasulov and Riad Abdulov. In the end, Samira Efendi was selected based on the votes of an international group of musical experts, including music producers, authors and composers, journalists and television industry representatives. Samira is definitely dedicated to the Eurovision Song Contest, this was her 5th attempt to represent Azerbaijan.

About Samira

The 28-year-old Samira has competed in popular musical programs such as Yeni ulduz, Böyük Səhnə (3rd place) and The Voice of Azerbaijan (3rd place). In 2017, she also took part in the Silk Way Star, an international singing competition which aired in Kazakhstan (3rd place), and, in 2019, she successfully represented Azerbaijan at the Voice of Nur-Sultan, again in Kazakhstan.