Saida Mukhametzyanova sings in Tatar at Uzbekistan’s The Voice

Photo: скриншот из видео «Ovoz - SAIDA MUHAMMADJONOVA | ГӨЛҖАМАЛ» с канала «The Voice of Uzbekistan»

Tatarstan-born Saida Mukhametzyanova, 23, participated in Ovoz, Uzbekistan’s The Voice show. The first edition of the project was released on Zoʻr TV 28 April evening.

In the TV programme, the young lady talked about herself, mainly in Tatar, while the jury replied in Uzbek. The singer travelled alone noting that she didn’t have any relatives in Uzbekistan but had a lot of friends. Saida Mukhametzyanov had already participated in The Voice. Kids in Russia finishing third. Now she’s working as soloist of the Kazan Philharmonic. Her solo concert was held at Chulpan culture centre on 27 April.

During the blind audition, Saida Mukhametzyanov sang Gulzhamal song. It is one of the most famous “largo” singing styles. At the same time, one of the key experts in ethnography of the republic, employee of the Galimjan Ibragimov Institute of Language, Literature and Art and then art director of the Tatarstan Philharmonic, specialist in music studies Makhmud Nigmetzyanov indicated the song was around 100 years old. It is likely invented by an urban citizen based on a folk melody: the lyrics is about candles, while there weren’t any in the countryside at that moment.

“I saw on social media they were receiving applications and I sent mine,” Saida told Realnoe Vremya. “I received an invitation a few days later, I had to travel quickly, I was fasting too, I didn’t have the time to prepare. But I decided to go alone not to regret. I slept three hours before the shooting.”

All the jury turned by the end of Saida’s performance. The young lady chose famous ethno signer Sevara Nazarkhan as her coach. Kazan signer Ralina Ibrayeva, 11, from Kazan participated in The Voice. Qazaqstan last year. She sang the unofficial anthem of the Tatars named Mother Tongue.