Dilara Kazimova ( az , Dilarə Kazımova ; born 20 May 1984) is an Azerbaijani singer and actress. She represented

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2014 The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "Only Teardrops" by Emmelie de Forest. Organised by the European B ...

in Copenhagen with the song " Start a Fire".

Career

Born in Baku, Kazimova studied vocal arts at the

Baku Academy of Music The Hajibeyov Baku Academy of Music (Azeri: ''Hacıbəyov adına Bakı Musiqi Akademiyası'') is a music school in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was established in 1920 in Baku and was previously known as the Hajibeyov Azerbaijan State Conservatoire. H ...

. After graduating, she briefly performed as part of an opera troupe. From the early 2000s, she was a member of the rock band Unformal and later the lead singer for the duo Milk & Kisses. Both bands participated in the Azerbaijani national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest before, with Unformal placing second in the national final in 2008, and Milk & Kisses placing second again in the national final in 2010. In 2010, the duo Milk & Kisses represented Azerbaijan at the annual New Wave music festival in Jurmala, Latvia, but came 16th out of 17 contestants. In 2014, Kazimova participated in the Azerbaijani selection (this time by herself) and won the competition. " Start a Fire", the song with which Dilara represented Azerbaijan in Copenhagen, was released two weeks later, on 16 March 2014, at the same time as the video clip. Dilara performed in the first semi-final of the contest, placing 9th with 57 points and ultimately qualified to the final. In the final she came 22nd with 33 points. Also in 2014, Kazimova was a contestant on the fourth season the

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

reality talent show '' Holos Krayiny'' (part of the international syndication ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

''), under the coaching of

Svyatoslav Vakarchuk Sviatoslav "Slava" Vakarchuk ( uk, Святослав Іванович Вакарчук; born May 14, 1975) is a Ukrainian musician, politician and public activist. He is the lead vocalist of Okean Elzy, a rock band in Ukraine. Vakarchuk is a for ...

. Kazimova has also starred in two Azerbaijani films '' Try Not to Breathe'' (alongside Fakhraddin Manafov) in 2006 and ''Purgatory'' (for which she recorded the soundtrack "Sonsuz yol" as part of the band Unformal) in 2007. In May 2022, Kazimova performed at the EuroVillage festival in Baku, whose goal is to promote cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.

Discography

Singles

Filmography

References

21st-century Azerbaijani women singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Azerbaijan Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2014 Musicians from Baku Living people Baku Academy of Music alumni English-language singers from Azerbaijan Azerbaijani film actresses 21st-century Azerbaijani actresses 1984 births The Voice (franchise) contestants The Voice of Ukraine contestants Azerbaijani rock musicians Articles containing video clips {{Azerbaijan-bio-stub