Efendi

The Azerbaijani singer Efendi was born as Samira Azer gizi Efendiyeva in Baku, Azerbaijan, on April 17, 1991. An accomplished vocalist from an early age, she launched her career by participating in televised singing competitions, appearing on Yeni Ulduz in 2009 and, several years later, earning a second-place finish during the first season of The Voice of Azerbaijan. Such experiences helped prepare Efendi to represent Azerbaijan in multiple international singing competitions. She headed to Kazakhstan in 2017 to participate in Silk Way Star, where she finished in third place, and returned to the country two years later for the Voice of Nur-Sultan Festival. She began releasing her own music in 2019, as well, debuting with "Yarımın Yarı" and issuing two more singles — "Sən Gələndə" and "Yol Ayrıcı" — before the year was up. Chosen by Azerbaijan as the country's official representative in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, Efendi prepared to perform the socially-progressive song "Cleopatra" in front of her largest audience to date. Although the competition was ultimately canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Efendi represented Azerbaijan during the following year's Eurovision Song Contest 2021, this time with the song "Mata Hari." She finished in twentieth place, with "Mata Hari" going on to chart at Number 6 in Belgium and Greece, Number 25 in Iceland, Number 18 in Lithuania, Number 22 in Norway, and Number 44 in the Netherlands.