Today we look at the entry that came in at 13th in our Aussievision Team Rankings, and that is... Kazakhstan!
It's just the second time at the competition for this Associate EBU member and below you can get details on their entry and history plus our individual rankings and comments.
The entry
Yerzhan Maxim - Armanyńnan qalma
Representing Kazakhstan at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest this year will be Yerzhan Maxim – a 12 year old from Oral, located in northwestern Kazakhstan.
Following Kazakhstan’s first participation in the contest last year with Daneliya Tuleshova, Yerzhan was internally selected by the broadcaster Khabar Agency. This however is not Yerzhan’s first experience with Junior Eurovision, having gone against Daneliya in Kazakhstan’s National Selection last year, coming in third place with the song, “Elimdi súıemin”.
Yerzhan comes to Junior Eurovision 2019 as such with a wealth of experience, having taken singing lessons since 2012, he has competed on and jointly won the Russian edition of The Voice Kids earlier this year, in addition to competing in a number of singing contests since 2016. He will perform in Gliwice with the song, “Armanyńnan Qalma”, written and composed by Aldabergenov Daniyar, Timur Balymbetov and Khamit Shangaliyev. The song, according to Yerzhan, explains how ‘the whole world will open up for you if you have dreams.’
Aussievision Team Rankings
Emma - 5th
Kyriakos - 6th
Aaron - 9th
Guy - 9th
Mike - 10th
Liv - 11th
Fleur - 13th
Dale - 15th
Alyce - 19th
The comments
Nobody could accuse the Kazakhs of not throwing at their JESC entries. This epic Disney-esque power ballad has a lot going on. In fact, I think it may have too much. From the OTT production and Yerzhan's vocal gymnastics it ends up feeling a little convoluted. ~ Mike
This really is one of the more dated songs this year but I think he sells it regardless with a delightful screen presence. Some of the bigger vocals might prove challenging live. ~ Liv
Here’s our Disney song for this year- it’s even about following your dreams!!! Yerzhan can certainly sing. His high notes are amazing. This will go top 5 for sure. Although I am not a huge fan of the song itself, Kazakhstan is really letting their presence be known. This competition is going to Almaty one day in the imminent future. ~ Fleur
Great ballad and an amazing voice ~ Guy
This has all the hallmarks of a song from the soundtrack of a Disney movie. Yerzhan’s talent as a vocalist shines through here...with a couple of high extended notes towards the end of the song. I love the musicality of this piece with the pan pipes a lovely addition. ~ Emma
Well you can't deny Kazakhstan are trying desperately to win, this has everything going on, and that's not always such a great thing... They Disney song will put some off and there are issues with the English diction, however Yerzhan is a talent. He has a great vocal and a likeability factor and I have no doubt this will get great staging. It's not for me but I can see it getting enough jury and televote love to do well. ~ Dale
When I first heard this song, I thought to myself “Hmm, where have I heard this before?” and then it hit me. It’s Let it Go from Frozen. I wasn’t really a fan of this song before I had that realisation, and I certainly wasn’t going to be a fan after. Their debut last year was just so much better. ~ Alyce
Yerzhan has a powerful voice and is one of the performances I am looking forward to hearing live. He will blow up the stage with his Disney sounding ballad. ~ Kyriakos
This does what I wanted Ireland’s song to do. It uses just enough folk instrumentation
to make it a Kazakh song. Yerzhan’s vocal talent is undeniable. Nice big key change too,
Kazakhstan have done their homework. On the downside it’s very Disney, and I’m more a Marvel fan to be quite honest. But seriously, I don’t have many quibbles. Just not quite my cup? ~ Aaron
Kazakhstan at Junior Eurovision
Kazakhstan have been specially invited to compete at Junior Eurovision as they are only an associate member of the EBU and don't automatically qualify to compete. Having only competed once before Kazakhstan will be hoping to match, if not better, their exceptional result last year coming 6th place having received 171 points with Daneliya Tuleshova and “Òzińe Sen”. For the 24th of November we wish the best of luck for the vocal powerhouse, Yerzhan Maxim, in Gliwice Arena.