Following two second-place finishes in a row, Kazakhstan is aiming to finally clinch the gold medal at Junior Eurovision 2021. Hoping to lift the trophy are Alinur Khamzin and Beknur Zhanibekuly, who will be singing “Ертегі әлемі (Fairy World)”.
Scroll down for “Ертегі әлемі (Fairy World)” lyrics
Kazakhstan in Junior Eurovision 2021: Alinur Khamzin & Beknur Zhanibekuly with “Ертегі әлемі (Fairy World)”
Alinur and Beknur initially entered Kazakhstan’s national selection for Junior Eurovision 2021 as soloists. However, the pair tied for first place in the public vote and even the jury could not decide between them. Therefore, it was decided they should both be named winners of the national final and come together as a duet for Junior Eurovision.
Alinur hails from Uralsk in Kazakhstan and is 11 years old. After falling in love with singing, Alinur has continued to hone his craft and has competed in a number of singing competitions.
Beknur was born in Kazakhstan’s capital city Nur-Sultan (formerly Astana), but currently lives in Strasbourg, France, after his father took up a diplomatic post at the Kazakh consulate. At only nine years old, Beknur is already multi-lingual and sings his portion of “Ертегі әлемі (Fairy World)” in French. Beknur uses prosthetic arms made of Lego, designed by Andorran student David Aguilar.
Although Kazakhstan doesn’t compete in Eurovision, Alinur still appears to be a fan of some of the songs from the contest. During an appearance on Kazakh morning TV show Oyan, Qazaqstan!, both Alinur and Beknur were asked to perform one of their favourite songs (at 6:25 in the video below). Alinur chose Conchita Wurst’s Eurovision 2014 winning entry “Rise Like A Phoenix”. Meanwhile, Beknur sang the sea shanty “Wellerman”.
What do the “Ертегі әлемі (Fairy World)” lyrics mean?
“They’re away with the fairies” – this is a saying that is often used in a negative context to describe someone who is distracted or in a dreamworld. However, in their Junior Eurovision entry, Alinur and Beknur actively encourage us to travel to the magical fairy world of our imagination.
Alinur opens the ballad up with the first verse and chorus in Kazakh. As his voice begins to soar in the latter, Alinur tells us not to shy away from escaping to this fairy world, and promises to be with us all the way:
Believe in the fairy world and I will believe with you
I will stay
I will be by your side
If your imagination is free, don’t back down and follow me
Beknur follows on with more of a spoken-word/rap section in French. He recounts how he’s grown to understand more about himself and gained power through letting his mind be free. Beknur also shows support to the listener and urges us to join him in the fairy world:
I found
Strength in myself
Believing in fairy tales
And there is a place
For you also
Take my hand
If you like
The pair then join forces and bring similar sentiments for a multi-lingual verse. Alinur finally brings things home with the last chorus.
“Ертегі әлемі (Fairy World)” lyrics – Alinur Khamzin & Beknur Zhanibekuly (Kazakhstan JESC 2021)
Music by: Nurbolat Qanay; Lyrics by: Nurbolat Qanay and Gabriel Boileau Cloutier
Kazakh and French text
[Alinur]Алыстан дауыстап шақырғандай бір ерекше ғажап дауыс
Бау-бақша, тау-тастар, жап-жасыл желек, су
Кемпірқосақпен зу
Жет те, дабыл қақ!
Шақыр қол бұлғап
Ертегі әлемге сенетін сен едің өзіңмен бірге қабылдап
Қалдым мақұлдап
Қасыңда болам
Қиялың еркін бе, шегінбе кел бері
[Beknur]
Sur ce chemin la chance nous sourit
Nous ne devons
Jamais abandonner
J’ai trouvé
La force en moi
En croyant aux contes de fées
Et il y a une place
Pour toi aussi
Prends ma main
Si tu le veux
[Alinur & Beknur]
Мен сенем, саған ғана
Tu me montreras le monde
Сен маған керек пана
Suivre avec moi
Ізіңнен еріп келем
Un monde magique
Бұл жақ Ертегі әлем
Yeah
[Alinur]
Жет те, дабыл қақ!
Шақыр қол бұлғап
Ертегі әлемге сенетін сен едің өзіңмен бірге қабылдап
Қалдым мақұлдап
Қасыңда болам
Қиялың еркін бе, шегінбе кел бері
English translation
[Alinur]As if a wondrous voice from afar is calling me
Gardens, mountain stones, greenery, water, and ride the rainbow
Get there and take it!
Call by waving your hand
Believe in the fairy world and I will believe with you
I will stay
I will be by your side
If your imagination is free, don’t back down and follow me
On this path, we are lucky
We don’t need
To ever give up
I found
Strength in myself
Believing in fairy tales
And there is a place
For you also
Take my hand
If you like [Alinur & Beknur]
I need you
You will show me the world
I see a shelter in you
Follow me
I will follow you
To this magic land
This fairy world
Yeah [Alinur]
Get there and take it!
Call by waving your hand
Believe in the fairy world and I will believe with you
I will stay
I will be by your side
If your imagination is free, don’t back down and follow me
What do you think of Kazakhstan’s Junior Eurovision 2021 entry? Do you think Alinur Khamzin & Beknur Zhanibekuly can emerge victorious with “Ертегі әлемі (Fairy World)”? Let us know in the comments below.
I take this a Kazakhstan making a Technicolour like entry – something a bit risky.
Beknur can actually sing well, I wonder why they didnt just turn the song into a duet?
I personally think this is quite the opposite of Malta for me: Malta has good rap, this one has a good solo singing.
And with regards to their script, I can now understand why their last president want to change the language’s alphabet.
I recon this is the winner this year.
I like the song and the new version. But for me the entry ‘s from 2020 and 2019 are much better.
This will do a whole lot better than the fans are expecting. Their 2019 was received just as poorly as this one and it made top 2 with an exceptional staging. And whilst I don’t see this in the top 5, this is certainly making the top 10. And I honestly don’t personally think this song is that bad at all.
The revamp is much better. I would like to know the story of Beknur. What happened to him?
He was born with Phocomelia, a condition where people are born with degenerated arms and legs.
a bit like thalidomide
Just putting it out there, 2019 was in the bottom of everyones Top, yet in the actual contest in ended second. So I wouldn’t write it out just yet.
I saw some news in a Eurovision page , about Kazakhstan delegation not being in France because of Omicron variant of COVID-19. They’ll use the music video. Is that true ?
There’s a possibility but it’s not certain yet
i see this song last or almost last in every eurofan list and considering that eurofans like stanning for kazakhstan just for the sake of it, then it must be real bad lmao
Those lists were remade before the revamp was released. Things might change, but I do suspect we might see Kazakhstan’s worst result this year even if it’s not last place.
The lyrics fits totally to the slogan of this jesc year, if the vocals and staging are on point it could do very well. Good luck Kazakhstan!
i love all the songs , Brilliant talented year
The revamp was a lot better than I had expected. Kazakhstan has serious potential now too. Who knows? They could pull off a ‘Mzeo’!
this will do better than most are expecting. with similar staging as yerzhan got 2 years ago, this could really climb the board and place in the top 5. and as we know, kazakhstan loves going all out with their staging so this is the act i’m most interested to see on stage
In 2018 they failed with their staging imo, in 2019 it was nice but nothing special, Yerzhan vocals were the highlight of the performance for me, but in 2020 they gave everything with their staging that’s true.
the 2019 staging was awesome and coupled with yerzhans vocals it was a top 2 package. forever was in most peoples top 5 the whole season while yerzhan was pretty low until the live shows
We don’t have the same definition of awsome then…their last year’s staging was awsome yes but in 2019 it was normal, really nothing special and nothing iconic.
and i wouldnt consider 6th place on their first showing at a eurovision event ever to be a fail at all
I was talking about their stagings not about their rankings. And 6th when you are considered as the big hot favourite to win…