The 30th artist in our Who Is series for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 is JIVA from Azerbaijan.
Jamila Hashimova, better known as JIVA, was born on September 9, 1982 in Moscow in Russia to Azerbaijani parents. She later moved to Azerbaijan.
JIVA began her career in 2003, after finishing second in the Baku Autumn contest. In 2007, she participated in Show Time, and in 2011, she participated in Milli Seçim Turu 2011, the Azerbaijani selection for Eurovision 2011.
JIVA has participated in several festivals in Azerbaijan and abroad, like the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and Zhara Fest in Baku. In 2025, she won the third season of Səs Azərbaycan (The Voice of Azerbaijan).
JIVA was internally selected to represent Azerbaijan in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.
The song that JIVA will perform in Vienna is called “Just Go”. It was written and composed by Fuad Javadov.
JIVA will perform in slot 2 in the second semi-final on May 14.
Azerbaijan debuted in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008. They were represented by Elnur & Samir with the song “Day After Day”, who finished 8th in the final. In 2011, Ell & Nikki won the Eurovision Song Contest for Azerbaijan with their song “Running Scared”. The song scored a total of 221 points, receiving only three sets of 12 points from Malta, Russia and Turkey. In 2018, Azerbaijan failed to qualify for the final for the first time, having previously had a 100% qualification record.
