A few days ago, Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR announced that Efendi will perform as a guest act during Eurovision 2025 in Basel. Although it has not been confirmed yet, she will likely perform “Cleopatra” in the second semi-final.
Efendi’s return
The announcement was made two weeks ago, by the host broadcaster, on Instagram.
It is likely that Efendi will perform in the second semi-final, which has been described by SRG SSR as being focused on “Eurovision fans”. The Roop, who represented Lithuania in 2020 and 2021, were later confirmed and have said they will perform in the Thursday show.
This has led many to believe that the second semi-final interval act may include a “Eurovision 2020 reunion medley”, with artists from 2020 finally performing their songs on the Eurovision stage. So far, only Diodato had that honour, as an interval act in Turin, in 2022.
Efendi, from Cleopatra to Mata Hari
Samira Efendi is a 34-year-old singer from Azerbaijan, who was chosen in 2020 to represent her country with the song “Cleopatra”. After the contest was cancelled, she was re-confirmed as the representative for 2021.
When she eventually performed in Rotterdam, it was with a new song: “Mata Hari”, a reference to a famous Dutch dancer accused and convicted of spying for Germany during World War I. Her participation was also noted for her potential relationship with the Norwegian representative, TiX, a well-remembered element of the 2021 season.
After qualifying to the Grand Final, she performed right after France, and just before Norway, the running order surfing on the Tix/Efendi story. She ended up two spots and 10 points behind him.
Do you think Efendi will perform Cleopatra in a 2020 reunion act? Who else would you like to see there? Tell us more in the comments below or on social media at @escxtra!
