Azerbaijan 2021- Efendi with ‘Mata Hari’

We’re nearly at the finish line now, with the penultimate country to reveal their entry being former powerhouses Azerbaijan:

This is the laziest Azerbaijan have been in a good few years and after two strong entries may be back into ‘not trying’ mode. Maybe they're back to not needing the contest for political gain or maybe they think sending a much worse, self plagiarising version of last year's attempt is the best way to go?

There's less of the punch and sheer bonkers-ness of ‘Cleopatra’ but also less of a song in there either. The ethnic instrumentation lends this some flavour but that and the last 30 seconds or so are just window dressing and it just doesn’t work as well as last year. Of course, viewers and juries won’t be comparing the two, but there’s just not that much to grab hold of this year and certainly much less for the televote- this just isn’t that fun.

Efendi is a competent performer and likeable presence and deserves better than ‘Mata Hari’.

The video for this is of course scaled down from ‘Cleopatra’ given the espionage theme compared to last year’s excess but more of a concept is needed live or this could get lost in the second half of that semi amongst the field, with only Israel looking doomed in that half.

Azerbaijan are always capable of a strong staging, and some Cleopatra hold over ideas may be back which could elevate this but I can't be too generous until we see it live.

With this effort, Azerbaijan have thrown themselves into some trouble in the semi. They are still more in than out and between themselves, Russia and Ukraine are less vulnerable to a Belarussian withdrawal/DQ. Should they qualify, a few low but consistent points from Balkan and Eastern countries should see this into a comfortable mid table position.

Personal Rating: 7/10 Competitive Rating: 6/10 Early Prediction: Semi One 8th-11th, 15th-19th in the Final if a qualifier.