On June 5 in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, the Muz TV Awards rolled out the red carpet for the A-list of Russian pop. The Awards, which were taking place outside of Russia for the first time, are a Who’s Who of Russian-language pop — and always feature countless Eurovision stars.
ESC alumni Polina Gagarina (2015), Mumiy Troll (2001), Dima Bilan (2006 and 2008), Filipp Kirkorov (1995), Serebro (2007), Ani Lorak (Ukraine 2008), Yulia Savicheva (2004) were among the nominees. Dima Bilan, Filipp Kirkorov, Serebro, and Ani Lorak each picked up silver plates with a gold apple after winning their respective categories: Best concert, Best male singer, Best pop group and Best female singer. Here’s our shot of Dima accepting his award.
The eleganza started outside, where wiwibloggs spied the stars coming into the venue. Here you can see the lovely Polina moving from car park to arena. As in Vienna, purity defines her all-white look.
We also spotted Georgia’s 2008 singer Diana Gurtskaya, one of the world’s most famous blind singers. She was trailed by a very colourful entourage.
The performances were amazing and over-the-top. Filipp Kirkorov gave us his best angel look — replete with halo. Simply divine!
As with any big production, the show had its share of troubles. In the middle of the red carpet ceremony, heavy rain drove the sun away. Storms destoryed most of the buildings for press and fans. And the rooftop inside the arena started to leak, soaking the floor and forcing several acts to adjust their performances. Arash, who represented Azerbaijan at Eurovision 2009 with ‘Always’, was hit in the leg by a piano.
But the show must go on — and it did so with a bang. Among the highlights was Ani Lorak taming a troupe of male dancers before taking flight in a giant pendelum. As you do!
The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nasarbaev, received the loudest applause. He spoke about music and the connection between all the countries in the world. It seems to give credence to the ever-present rumours that Kazakhstan will one day take part in the Eurovision Song Contest. It’s fair to say that Nasarbaev would support the idea.
Muz TV Awards 2015: Full Show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p65VdSgI-Y0
Muz TV Awards 2015: Winners
Breakthrough of the Year – Yegor Creed
Best Hip Hop Project – Dzhigan
Best song – Nyusha – Tsunami
Best song in a foreign language – Alien24 – Wally
Best pop group – Serebro
Best rock band – Beasts
Best concert show – Dima Bilan – 33 (hall “Crocus City Hall”)
Best Duet – VIA Gra and the ILO – Oxygen
Best Album – Emin – “honest”
Best Video – Nikolai Baskov and Sophie – You’re my happiness
Best Female Video – Anita Choi – My air, my love
Best Male Video – Sergey Lazarev – 7 digits
Best performer – Ani Lorak
Best Artist – Filipp Kirkorov
nice article… but a bit surprised you didn’t put the video of Dima Bilan’s performance when he sang LIVE upside down ( !)
My comment below should read “Make sure the jury is fair though.”
It would be awesome to have Kazakhstan join the ESC party. Karim would be an excellent choice to sing.
Make sure the jury is far though. It should not mean 12 points to Russia every time.
The comment below is mine.
Serebro is the Best pop group? These stupid bitc..hmm, girls, can’t even sing! They are nothing without Lena Temnikova. What a joke. Well, here is another one- Best Album – Emin – “honest”)) This one can’t sing either.., but it doesn’t matter, right.., he has; 1) a dream to become a superstar. 2) tons of bucks. 3) a billionaire father.. and as if it wasn’t enough 4) his (ex) father-in-law is the most corrupt all buying dictator aka president of banana republic Azerbaijan. He’d probably already made us very ‘happy’ by his appearance at the Eurovision (from Azerbaijan), but as… Read more »
Also, I wouldn’t mind Sergei Lazarev participating in Eurovision anytime soon. I’m glad I let myself get updated with the latest Russian music and singers especially artists who are not (yet) participating in Eurovision. Articles like this is also a big help.
Janar Dugalova, winner of Türkvizyon 2014, also performed there.
i’m surprised how diverse the nominees are. russians, ukrainians, even azeris… that’s amazing.
I love this post! Good to see features on the Russian music industry, allows us to get to know the artists better outside of their Eurovision bubble. Are there other articles here about Eurovision stars & their local countries’ music awards? Maybe you can adjust the tags to include those 😀
Nyusha or Igor Kreed for Russia next year and Via Gra for Ukraine in next year’s contest please