Azerbaijan are one of the final few nations to release their Eurovision entry for this year, with their song Mata Hari now available. Samira Efendi, known simply as Efendi is returning to represent the nation after being selected to represent Azerbaijan in 202 with the song Cleopatra.
The lyrics of the song tell a story about Mata Hari, a Dutch exotic dancer who was convicted of being a spy during the first World War, although some historians dispute this. Speaking of the song, Efendi said,
‘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. There is a queen in each of us and I want to remind you that it’s time to release her’
The song was written by Dutch trio, Amy van der Wel, Luuk van Beers and Tony Cornelissen. Listen to the song below: