Back in April, while I was interviewing acts on the red carpet at the Moscow Eurovision Party, the rising EDM queen M A N I Z H A told me that she’d be singing at Eurovision in the near future.

Speaking inside the VEGAS Kuntsevo shopping mall the Tajik star cut straight to the chase: “I think that maybe on the next year I will be on Eurovision.”

Now, as rumours swirl that Sergey Lazarev will return to the contest, and as Philipp Kirkorov says he’d support Olga Buzova, Manizha is once again sounding off on her own Eurovision interests.

During an appearance on a Russian chat show, Manizha was asked about her comments in our interview.

“I read in your interview that you said ‘possibly I’m going to Eurovision next year,'” the host asks. “How are you going to surprise them there in Europe?”

She replies: “I haven’t thought about it yet — it’s still a big secret.”

Who is Manizha?

Born in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in 1991, the 28-year old singer-songwriter is now based in Moscow and has already opened for artists like Lana Del Rey.

She first dipped her toe in the music business back in 2009. Performing under the name the name Ru.Kola, she showed great promise with “Neglect”.

Despite its name, she treated the track with plenty of care.

Manizha doesn’t just think outside of the box — she sets it on fire!

She made waves in late 2016 with the release of her debut album “Manuscript” via Instagram, turning the social media platform into her musical album.

As you can tell from the caption below, Miss M is all about opening up and swiping down stereotypes.

View this post on Instagram

#??????????, ????? ?????? ???????. ?????? ???, ? ?????????? ?????? ???????. everybody hurts, ? ???????, ????? ?? ?? ?????????? ?????. ???? ?????? #???????. ____________________________________________ ?????? ????????, ?? ????? “+”, ???? ???, ?? ??????? ??????. ??????? ???? ?????? ????? ?????????, ?????? #??????. ????? ??????? ??????????? ?? ?????, ????? ?????? ?? ??? ??? ??????? ????? ????????. ____________________________________________ directed, edited by #manizha ? ???????????? ????????? ???????????: @anton_bystryakov, @kir.parastaev, @rafaeldrk, @cheslaw_, @victor_mikhaylov. mua: @alexandra_gerts, hair: @muakate ????????? ???????: @vsemogush_ _____________________________________________ #?????? #23??????? #???????? #????????????????? #??????? #manizha #instagramru #???????iphone

A post shared by MANIZHA (@manizha) on

Translation: manizha this is beautiful when a man cries. that’s right, I congratulate the men today. Everyone hurts, and it’s great when we are not shy about it #cry.

Earlier in 2018, she became the first Russian artist to be given the “Deezer Next” treatment. Deezer is a French-based music streaming service and their “Next” initiative highlights the music of select artists from around the globe through increased exposure in playlists.

After the success of her debut album she released her follow-up, sophomore album “YAIAM” just last month.

Her current and unique sound combines soul with traditional and electric flair. Despite all the mixing and matching, she tells us her music is “super simple, music from my heart, that’s all”.

Eurovision Song

Speaking to us in Moscow, Manizha also said that she has a song ready for the contest.

“I have one song, I didn’t release it, and I’m still dreaming that I will sing it on Eurovision, and it’s called ‘I Am Who I Am’, because I want to sing about your personality, your realness.”

If her Instagram account is anything to go by, when she says “realness” she means it. In a series of candid posts with the hashtag #TraumaAndBeauty, she revealed some of her most personal struggles.

“My body is my house, and for 26 years I hated every curve of this house,” she wrote in one. “So far the hate for my own body has helped me with just one thing: constructing an online identity, the ideal online-Manizha who is always smiling in pictures taken from the right angle, draped in baggy clothes. But every time I wake up as offline-Manizha, who hates herself as she goes jogging, and after just two minutes of exercising wants to drop dead. Hate never helps. I am sick of this Manizha and I don’t want to be her anymore. I want to be myself. I am not afraid to speak about my fears, my uneven skin tone, my plump arms and soft belly and round hips that are a nightmare to fit into a pair of jeans.”

She concludes her inner struggle with the post below:

“The industry requires perfect skin, an ideal smile, an ideal weight. The industry came up with a retouch, a beauty blender and hyaluronic acid. Industry, I was your client: I used the Facetune, went to consultations with plastic surgeons and almost decided on the operation. Industry, who are you? You f*cked. I am me, and I like my skin, my wrinkles, my cellulite. Industry, you lose the audience. #manizha # traumaandbeauty”

You can check out one of her music videos here. Get ready to fall in love…

What do you think of Manizha? Would she do well on the Eurovision stage? Let us know in the comments below. 

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beccaboo1212
5 years ago

NEWS FLASH: Manizha is 27. She turns 28 in July 2019.

Jurgis
Jurgis
5 years ago

Time for William to PR this girl everywhere, because this is Russia

Polegend Godgarina
Polegend Godgarina
5 years ago

Alsou-Polina-… we need to complete the Russian trinity! And this girls seems WORTHY!

Cedric
5 years ago

Omg yes pls I love her <3

Russian Fla-la-lag
Russian Fla-la-lag
5 years ago

I have been listening to her lately so yeah I would really like to see her sing in Eurovision.

brennan
brennan
5 years ago

wow i love manizha!!! i wouldn’t have thought to see her in eurovision ever

Someone
Someone
5 years ago

You can tell she’s definitely doing it.

Phary
Phary
5 years ago

I like her songs, but there’s a video of her singing “I am who I am” at a concert on YouTube since May, so that might be a problem

VlaD
VlaD
5 years ago
Reply to  Phary

yes and its really nothing special

KESC
KESC
5 years ago

Would love to see her next year. Sergey could make a great comeback in 2020.