Russia Selects Tajik-Born Manizha for Eurovision 2021

Russian Delegate Manizha Sangin will compete in the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, from May 18-22 (Euro Visionary).

Russian citizens voted on March 8 to send Manizha Sangin to the Eurovision singing competition with her chosen song, “Russian Woman,” garnering 38.7 percent of the contest’s popular vote. 

Born in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, the 29-year-old artist currently lives in Moscow, where she produces chart-topping hits while working as Russia’s UN Refugee Agency Goodwill Ambassador and serving as a human rights activist.

Sangin’s performance of “Russian Woman” combines colorful stage effects with a mix of gospel rap and electronic sounds. The song’s lyrics address Russian gender stereotypes and their evolution over time. Sangin states that the Russian woman has gone from the “peasant hut” to the right to “elect and be elected,” and from “factory workshops to space flights.” 

The national icon emigrated to Russia at the age of three due to civil war and says she faced years of xenophobia and racist attacks due to her Central Asian identity. Sangin expresses that it was during these years she found “shelter” in songwriting.

Taking the stage name “Ru. Kola” in 2009, she kickstarted her professional career that year with the song “Neglect” and released her debut studio album in February 2017. Her music ranges from indie to rap, ethnic to electronic, and feminist to folk. 

As her popularity skyrocketed throughout the 2010s, she also became a leading Russian figure for women’s, LGBTQ+, and refugee rights. She made national headlines in 2019 for developing a mobile application designed to aid domestic violence victims. 

Sangin’s selection incensed many Russians who oppose her progressive musical themes, her Tajik heritage, and her displacement of Little Big, the band which won the 2020 competition but was ultimately unable to perform due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While liberal advocates in the state and region have celebrated her nomination, backlash toward her beliefs and foreign birth came instantly. Derogatory comments flooded the official video and have continued to circulate across Russian media outlets. 
Despite these affronts, Manizha will take her talents to Rotterdam, where she will compete among 40 countries in the 65th Eurovision Song Contest and seek to win Russia’s first title since 2008.