Manizha Dalerovna Sangin (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Khamrayeva; russian: Мани́жа Дале́ровна Санги́н (Хамра́ева); tg, Манижа Далеровна Ҳамроева; born 8 July 1991), known professionally as simply Manizha, is a Russian-Tajik singer and songwriter, as well as a

Goodwill Ambassador Goodwill ambassador is a post-nominal honorific title, a professional occupation and/or authoritative designation that is assigned to a person who advocates for a specific cause or global issue on the basis of their notability such as a public ...

for the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

. Beginning her career in 2003 as a child singer, Manizha went on to perform with the music groups Ru.Kola, Assai, and Krip De Shin, before later pursuing a solo career. She represented Russia in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2021 The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 was the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's win at the with the song "Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. The Netherlands was set to host the , ...

with the song "

Russian Woman "Russian Woman" (russian: Русская женщина, Russkaya zhenshchina, stylised in all caps) is a song by Russian-Tajik singer Manizha, independently released as a single on 19 March 2021. The song represented Russia in the Eurovisio ...

Early life and education

Manizha was born on 8 July 1991 in

Dushanbe Dushanbe ( tg, Душанбе, ; ; russian: Душанбе) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 863,400 and that population was largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (r ...

to parents Najiba Usmanova, a psychologist and clothing designer, and a father who worked as a doctor. Her parents are divorced, and her father did not want Manizha to begin a singing career due to believing it was not a suitable career choice for a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

woman. Manizha's grandfather was , a Tajik writer and journalist, with a monument dedicated to his honor in

Khujand Khujand ( tg, Хуҷанд, Khujand; Uzbek: Хўжанд, romanized: Хo'jand; fa, خجند‌, Khojand), sometimes spelled Khodjent and known as Leninabad (russian: Ленинабад, Leninabad; tg, Ленинобод, Leninobod; fa, لن� ...

. Her great-grandmother was one of the first women in Tajikistan to remove her

veil A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European, Asian, and African societies. The practice has been prominent ...

and begin a career of her own; in response to this, she had her children removed from her care, although she later was able to return to them and begin working outside of the home. Manizha changed her surname from Khamrayeva to Sangin in order to honor her grandmother, who was one of the first people who encouraged her to pursue music. In 1994, Manizha and her family fled Tajikistan due to the

Tajikistani Civil War The Tajikistani Civil War ( tg, Ҷанги шаҳрвандии Тоҷикистон, translit=Jangi shahrvandiyi Tojikiston / Çangi shahrvandiji Toçikiston; russian: Гражданская война в Таджикистане), also known ...

, subsequently settling in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. After arriving in Moscow, Manizha began studying at a music school, where she studied

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

. She afterward left the school to begin training with private vocal coaches. Manizha studied psychology at the

Russian State University for the Humanities The Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH, RGGU; russian: Росси́йский госуда́рственный гуманита́рный университе́т, РГГУ, translit=Rossijskij gosudarstvennyj gumanitarnyj universit ...

Career

2003–2015: Early career

Manizha began her career in 2003, performing as a child singer. She took part in a number of children's singing competitions, winning the Grand Prix of the Rainbow Stars competition in

Jūrmala Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach, and a population of 49,325 in 2019 ...

, becoming a laureate of the Ray of Hope festival organized by

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

, and becoming a laureate of the Kaunas Talent competition in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

. She recorded a number of songs in both

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and Tajik, before joining the music project Ru.Kola in 2007. That year, she became a finalist at the Five Stars music competition in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

. Manizha later left the Ru.Kola project, and joined the Russian group Assai in 2011. She later left Assai to join Krip De Shin soon after, which was formed along with other former members of Assai. With Krip De Shin, she recorded an extended play and performed at various music festivals throughout Russia. Due to creative differences between herself and the band, she later opted to leave the group. After leaving the group, Manizha moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and later began studying

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

in both London and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

2016–2020: Independent breakthrough

In 2016, Manizha returned to her music career, with the release of several independently released singles. The singles were followed by the release of her debut studio album, ''Manuscript'', which was independently released in February 2017. Following the release of ''Manuscript'', Manizha began working on her second studio album, ''ЯIAM'', which was released in March 2018. Describing the album, Manizha stated that it was based on the "architecture of the personality" of a person. Her debut solo extended play ''Womanizha'' was released in April 2019.

2021–present: Eurovision Song Contest and subsequent releases

In March 2021, it was confirmed that Manizha would be taking part in the Russian national final for the

with the song "

". At the final, held in Moscow on 8 March 2021, Manizha was declared the winner after receiving 39.7% of the public vote. She represented Russia in the contest in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, where she placed ninth out of 26 countries, receiving 204 points. After Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Manizha stated her opposition to the invasion, referring to the Ukrainian backgrounds of her soon-to-be husband and daughter-in-law. She released the single "Soldier" on 13 March in response to the invasion. As a consequence of the invasion, Russia was excluded from the

Eurovision Song Contest 2022 The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and h ...

, and was banned from entering future contests. Due to this, Manizha remains the last Russian representative at the contest.

Social positions

In 2017, Manizha began posting unedited photos of herself with the hashtag #TheTraumaOfBeauty and captions discussing her struggles with her body image. At her concert on the roof of the Château de Fantomas in Moscow, Manizha took off her stage makeup and invited the public to join this manifesto. She distributed wet wipes to those who wanted to. Manizha supports various charitable foundations: she performed at the charity festival "Anton is here near" 2017, organised by the foundation helping autistic children; at the closing of the IX World Children's Games of the winners of 2018, organized by the "Give Life" Foundation helping children with cancer; took part in the "Star of Kindness" charity event in support of the "Children butterflies" and others. In February 2019, Manizha launched a social campaign against domestic violence. As part of this project, she released a free mobile application called Silsila (in Persian - "thread") to help victims of domestic violence. The app allows users to quickly call for help in an emergency using the panic button and offers a list of the nearest crisis centers and shelters in which to hide. Not all the centers that the team listed had been tested, only some of them can be contacted regardless of gender, nationality and documents. In support of the campaign, together with the director Lado Quatania ("HypeProduction"), a video was released for the song "Mama" (Russian and English versions). The video raises the problem of domestic violence against women and adolescents, as well as the problems of transformation from a child to an adult. The video provides statistics on the scale of the problem of violence in Russia. Manizha's team collects their own statistics. The project was created without the support of the state, third-party companies or funds. Manizha's mother sold her apartment to help pay for the app. Manizha also actively supports the LGBT community. In 2019, she starred in a video for the Russian online queer magazine "Otkritiye" ("Open") during Pride Month. After that, as the singer admits, about 10 thousand people unsubscribed from her Instagram. In 2020, she sang her version of Cher's song "Believe" during the Otkritiye's Digital Pride. In the autumn of the same year, she performed at the Queerfest in St. Petersburg. In October 2020, the

(UNHCR) announced Manizha as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR. On 9 December 2021, Manizha visited Almaty, Kazakhstan in honour of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign. On 24 February 2022, Manizha stated her opposition to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

via an Instagram post, referring to her husband and sister-in-law's Ukrainian background. Her opposition to the war led to her facing a campaign to have her blacklisted, leading to several promoters cancelling her performances after government supporters began posting personal information of concert organizers.

Personal Life

On 6 September 2022, Manizha announced her marriage to film director, Lado Kvataniya. They one child (a daughter) together born in 2023,

Awards and nominations

{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" , - ! scope="col" , Award ! scope="col" , Year ! scope="col" , Nominee(s) ! scope="col" , Category ! scope="col" , Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable", , - !scope="row" rowspan=2,

Berlin Music Video Awards The Berlin Music Video Awards (BMVA) is a festival and networking event for filmmakers, directors, artists, musicians, and music video fans held annually in Berlin, Germany. The four-day event consists of music video marathons, live performances, ...

, 2019 , "Мама" , rowspan=2, Best Concept , , , - , 2020 , "Недославянка" , ,

Discography

Studio albums

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" , - ! scope="col", Title ! scope="col", Details , - ! scope="row", ''Manuscript'' , * Released: 17 February 2017 * Label: Independent * Format: Digital download , - ! scope="row", ''ЯIAM'' , * Released: 23 March 2018 * Label: Independent * Format: Digital download

Extended plays

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" , - ! scope="col", Title ! scope="col", Details , - ! scope="row", ''Womanizha'' , * Released: 26 April 2019 * Label: Independent * Format: Digital download

Singles

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" , - ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:16em;", Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:1em;", Year ! scope="col" colspan="2", Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2", Album , - ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;", NLD
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%;", SWE
, - ! scope="row", "I Love Too Much" , rowspan="3", 2016 , — , , — , rowspan="2", ''Manuscript'' , - ! scope="row", "Little Lady" , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Sleepy Song"
, — , , — , , - ! scope="row", "Устал" (I Got Tired) , rowspan="3", 2017 , — , , — , ''ЯIAM'' , - ! scope="row", "Hear What I Feel" , — , , — , , - ! scope="row", "Изумруд" (Emerald) , — , , — , ''ЯIAM'' , - ! scope="row", "Любил, как мог" (I Loved as Much as I Could) , rowspan="3", 2018 , — , , — , rowspan="9" , - ! scope="row", "Мне легко" (It's Easy for Me) , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Black Swan"
, — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Завтрак" (Breakfast) , rowspan="4", 2019 , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Сейчас дважды не случится" (Now Will Not Happen Twice) , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Недославянка" (Not Slavic Enough) , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Vanya" , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Человеку нужен человек" (A Human Needs a Human) , rowspan="4", 2020 , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Начало" (The Beginning) , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "На путь воина встаю" (I'm Getting on the Way of Warrior) , — , , — , '' Mulan (Official Motion Picture Soundtrack – Russian Dub)'' , - ! scope="row", "Город солнца" (The City of Sun) , — , , — , rowspan="8" , - ! scope="row", "Про тебя" (About You) , rowspan="4", 2021 , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Akkulista"
, — , , — , - ! scope="row", "

" , 81 , , 84 , - ! scope="row", "Держи Меня Земля" (Hold Me Mother Earth) , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Soldier" , 2022 , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Standing Between Two Walls" , rowspan="2", 2023 , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Tummy" , — , , —

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1991 births 21st-century Russian women singers 21st-century Tajikistani women singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2021 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Russia Living people Naturalised citizens of Russia Musicians from Moscow People from Dushanbe Russian feminists Russian people of Tajikistani descent Russian pop singers Russian State University for the Humanities alumni Tajik-language singers Tajikistani emigrants to Russia Russian women's rights activists Russian LGBT rights activists Russian human rights activists Women human rights activists Women civil rights activists Russian activists against the Russian invasion of Ukraine Tajikistani Civil War refugees