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Russia’s Eurovision pick Manizha aims for victory in Rotterdam

Russian singer of the Tajik origin Manizha Sangin, 29, is an independent musician, author and recording artist, music video director and activist fighting against domestic violence. She has been made a UN Goodwill Ambassador for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees

© Valery Sharufulin/TASS

MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. Manizha, the singer who won Russia’s national selection to perform at the 2021 Eurovision, aims to achieve nothing but a victory, she said in an interview with TASS Monday.

Manizha will represent Russia at the competition which will be held in Rotterdam in May 2021 with a song entitled Russian Woman.

"As for the placement in the contest, I am gearing up for a victory," she said. "Let’s see how the performance will be judged. Of course, it is a challenge. A person born in Tajikistan goes to the Eurovision Song Contest with a song Russian Woman."

The artist stressed that her morale is in perfect shape. "I am a fighter essentially," she explained. "For quality and for everything to look and sound cool. It is important to preserve self-irony in Russian Woman so that it can be perceived by not just the Russian audience but the foreign one as well. Believe me, the multiculturality that is present in this song, in my manifest if you like, is inherent in many countries and nationalities."

Manizha

Russian singer of the Tajik origin Manizha Sangin, 29, is an independent musician, author and recording artist, music video director and activist fighting against domestic violence. She has been made a UN Goodwill Ambassador for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

According to the singer, Russian Woman is a "song about transformation of woman’s self-awareness in Russia in the last several centuries." She noted that the Russian woman "came an amazing path from a peasant’s log hut to the right to vote and be elected (one of the first in the world), from factory workshops to space flights. She was never afraid of countering stereotypes and assuming responsibility."

The 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Rotterdam between May 18 and 22 under the slogan of ‘Open Up.’ Organizers announced their intention to bring artists together on one stage but with all the necessary security measures in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, all participants will have to observe social distancing, get tested for the coronavirus, while all performers are recommended to quarantine five days prior to their flight to the Netherlands.

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