Dimash Qudaibergen
Dınmūhammed Qanatūly Qūdaibergen, known professionally as Dimash Qudaibergen and mononymously as Dimash, is a Kazakh singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is university-trained in classical as well as contemporary music, and is known for his exceptionally wide vocal range. He has performed songs in 16 languages.
Although offered a position at the Astana Opera, he decided to carve out his career in contemporary music, mixing classical elements and traditional Kazakh music with pop music.
He gained significant popularity in Kazakhstan and other post-Soviet countries in 2015 upon becoming the Grand Prix winner of Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk, Belarus. He rose to fame in China with his participation as a "wildcard competitor" in Hunan TV's Singer 2017, finishing second overall.
Early life
Dinmukhamed Qanatuly Qudaibergen was born on 24 May 1994 in Aktobe, to Qanat Qūdaibergenūly Aitbaev and Svetlana Aitbaeva. He is a Muslim. His father previously led the regional Cultural Development Board of Aktobe. His mother is a soprano singer at the Aktobe Philharmonic Society, a Member of the Standing Committee on Social and Cultural Development and artistic director of the children's studio Saz in the Aktobe Region.Qudaibergen has a younger sister named Raushan and a younger brother named Abilmansur, who is also a musician, songwriter, guitarist, pianist and drummer.
Qudaibergen was brought up in a close-knit musical family, and his grandparents played a major role in his upbringing, which followed largely traditional Kazakh customs.
Qudaibergen began performing at a young age, singing and playing the piano. His first appearance on stage was at the age of two in a minor role in a local theatre production. At home, Qudaibergen took an interest in musical instruments, and his parents and his music teacher noticed that he had absolute pitch. At the age of five, he began to take piano and vocal lessons at the children's studio of the local music college. Qudaibergen first sang on stage the same year, at the age of five. Aged six, in 2000, he won the national piano contest Aynalayin.
Education
At the age of five, he began taking violin and singing lessons at the children's studio of the Aktobe Music College, where he would later attend, accompanied by his grandmother Miua. He has expressed gratitude to his early teachers and to his grandmother, who took him to his lessons every day despite the pain in her legs. Dimash first sang on stage the same year, at the age of five. He later attended Gymnasium No. 32 in Aktobe. Dimash completed a Broadway Musical master class in 2009.In 2014, he graduated in Classical Music with a specialization in voice from the Akhmet Zhubanov Aktobe Music Faculty Aktobe and began his studies in Contemporary Music in the Kazakh National University of Arts in Astana, where he graduated with a major in Voice on 27 June 2018.
On 18 June 2020, he graduated from the same university with a master's degree in Composition by defending his master's thesis with a perfect score and received a recommendation for admission to doctoral studies in music.
In December 2022, Dimash became the owner of the Bolashak International Scholarship.
Career
He began singing and playing the piano in various places and competitions throughout his childhood. At the age of six, in 2000, he won the national piano contest Aynalayin.2010–2014: Early career
From 2010 to 2013, Dimash participated in and won four major singing competitions, in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan.With winning the prestigious National Zhas Kanat Contest in 2012, Dimash gained for the first time wide attention from the Kazakh national media. He won the three-day vocal competition with a full jury score of 180 out of 180 points; the first time in the history of the contest.
In 2013, he was invited to perform as a guest singer at the Türkçevizyon Gala Night in Denizli, Turkey.
As a teenager, Dimash also became involved in taekwondo and swimming. During this time he composed the music for two of his future hits, "Körkemim" with lyrics written by his father and "Unforgettable Day" based on a poem by Baisengir. Dimash also recorded three music videos, two versions of Körkemim and "Daididau".
In 2014, he graduated from the Zhubanov Music College in Aktobe and began his studies in Astana at the Kazakh National University of Arts at the faculty of "Pop Art". Dimash continued performing in public and even participated in a concert for the Day of Teacher. On 30 December 2014, he received an award from the Daryn State Youth Award.
2015–2016: Slavianski Bazaar, international performances and Unforgettable Day Tour
Following his graduation, Dimash performed in various European and Asian countries. In 2015, he was invited to participate at the Slavic Bazaar in Vitebsk, Belarus, an annual international contest for prominent singers, after one of the organizers had seen him perform live in Kazakhstan. Dimash went on to win the Grand Prix on 13 July 2015, with a score of 175 points out of 180. During the three days of the contest, he was the clear favorite of both the jury and audience. With his original renditions of the Kazakh folk song "Daididau", the Russian singer Alla Pugacheva's "Blizzard Again" and the French singer Daniel Balavoine's "SOS d'un terrien en détresse", he gained wide recognition from the jury and international media. Chairman of the jury, Polad Bülbüloğlu, stated that Dimash possessed three voices in one: a low and medium voice, and altino, a rare voice, and that he used all of them professionally.Upon winning Slavianski Bazaar, Qudaibergen regularly appeared in national TV shows and public events. His guest performances included at Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy; at the theatrical show Mangilik El, dedicated to the 550th anniversary of the Kazakh Khanate; at the 2015 Eurasia International Film Festival in Almaty; and at an Astana Opera Concert that was attended by the Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Dimash released his second own composition "Unforgettable Day" in August 2015. In October 2015, Qudaibergen was selected to represent Kazakhstan at the 2015 ABU TV Song Festival in Istanbul, Turkey. Dimash performed "Daididau", receiving a standing ovation. In November, Dimash performed at the closing ceremony of Mary – Culture and Arts Capital of the Turkic World festival, in Turkmenistan.
He released his self-titled debut extended play on 1 January 2016. Dimash appeared on various TV shows singing "My Swan" in a duet with Mayra Muhammad-kyzy. In February 2016, his rendition of "Daididau" was selected by the European Broadcasting Union to represent Kazakhstan in their "Around the World in 80 Minutes of Music" program dedicated to the World Radio Day 2016 that was played by radio stations around the world. In March, Dimash sang with his parents at the Women's Day concert in Astana, and took part in the "All Stars for My Beloved" concert dedicated to International Women's Day at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow. In March and April, he went on tour with the Kazakh University of Arts Symphony Orchestra in Vienna, Austria; Maribor, Slovenia; and Belgrade, Serbia, performing "SOS d'un terrien en détresse" and "Daididau".
Dimash had his first headlined tour from April to December 2016, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of independence of Kazakhstan. Dimash achieved 21 out of the 27 total planned concerts in 25 regions of Kazakhstan, which also included two additional concerts in the cities of Kazan and Ufa in Russia. He named his tour Unforgettable Day, after his own song by the same name. The concerts consisted of a wide variety of songs in various languages. He received the "Pop Artist" award at the People's Favorite ceremony in Kazakhstan.
In July 2016, he was invited to perform at the Slavic Bazaar opening ceremony in Belarus, where he sang a duet with Nagima Eskalieva, and was also honored to raise the flag of the festival. In 2016, Qudaibergen also served as a judge at Bala Dausy 2016.
Other performance highlights of Dimash in 2016 included his guest performance at the annual Zhas Kanat Contest; and his performances of "Diva Dance" at an Astana Day Concert that was attended by the President of Kazakhstan; of the rap song "I Am Kazakh" at Almaty's 1000th Birthday Gala Concert; at a UNESCO event in Paris, France; his performance at the Turkic Culture Festival in Seoul, South Korea, performing for the presidents of South Korea, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan; and he represented Kazakhstan, alongside baritone Sundet Baigozhin, as a guest singer at the Big Opera 2016 TV competition in Russia.
In November 2016, the director of Astana Opera State Theatre, Toleubek Alpiyev, invited Qudaibergen to work as an opera singer, stating that his voice would be "ideal for baroque opera", but he decided to pursue a career in contemporary music.
2017: ''Singer'', success in China and solo concert ''Bastau''
In early 2017, Dimash appeared in the fifth season of Hunan Television's I Am a Singer, under the recommendation of director Hong Tao, and signed a contract with Black Gold Talent in Beijing. At 22, he was the youngest participant in the history of the show, and competed against professional and top-selling Chinese singers as a 'wildcard' competitor. Dimash's mother later said that he hoped to reach at least the middle stage of the competition.He won Episodes 1, 2 and 6, with his performances of "S.O.S d'un terrien en détresse", "Opera 2", and "Adagio". He made it to the finals, and finished as runner-up to Hong Kong singer Sandy Lam.
In Episode 1 of Singer 2017, Dimash sang "SOS d'un terrien en détresse". After winning this episode, Dimash's name became prominent in social media and his success made headlines in China, Kazakhstan as well as French media and TV programs.
Dimash also won Episode 2 with his version of Vitas' "Opera 2", and came in third in Episode 3 with his rendition of Queen's "The Show Must Go On". Hunan TV and the Chinese media named him "a bridge for Kazakh-Chinese cultural cooperation". Between the recordings of Episodes 3 and 4, Dimash performed at the 2017 Winter Universiade Opening Ceremony, singing Sarah Brightman's "A Question of Honor" with Zarina Altynbayeva. He performed his first ever Mandarin song "Late Autumn" in Episode 4 and ranked third. During the broadcast of Episode 4, Dimash's meeting with Jackie Chan, his childhood idol, was shown. He won Episode 6 with his rendition of Lara Fabian's "Adagio" – a performance which was praised by Fabian.
For Episode 7, Dimash performed his rendition of the traditional Kazakh folk song "Daididau", accompanied by the Folk Instrumental Ensemble of Dimash's university, the Kazakh National University of Arts. Dimash and the instrumentalists performed wearing traditional Kazakh costumes. He started the performance by playing a traditional piece named "Adai" on the dombra, and then sang "Daididau". He came in third. His performance was received positively and sparked interest in Kazakh music and culture in China. Dimash later said in an interview that this gave him the opportunity to "make sure once again that music knows no boundaries". After the broadcast of Episode 7, a documentary about Dimash aired on Hunan TV.
Dimash sang his own song "Unforgettable Day" for Episode 10, with a section of the lyrics translated into Mandarin. He came third. Within a few days, "Unforgettable Day" reached the top of the Fresh Asia Music Charts. On 5 April, he released his first Chinese single "Eternal Memories", theme song of the movie Battle of Memories.
In Episode 12 of Singer, the semi-final, Dimash sang Adriano Celentano's "Confessa" in Italian, followed by "The Diva Dance" from the movie The Fifth Element. He placed second and was promoted to the final. On 12 April, he released his single "Go Go Power Rangers", theme song of the movie Power Rangers in China.
In the final of Singer 2017, Dimash sang "A Tribute to Michael Jackson" in a duet with Laure Shang. He finished Singer 2017 as runner-up. For the final episode of Singer 2017, Episode 14, the gala episode, Dimash performed a new song in Kazakh, "Give Me Love".
During Singer, Dimash appeared on various Chinese TV programs, including "Happy Camp", My Boyfriend's A Superstar/Fan Fan Boyfriend and Come Sing with Me ; and had many other performances in China. They included the Chinese Top Ten Music Awards in Shanghai, where he won his first Chinese Award, namely for "Best Asian Singer"; the Top Chinese Music Awards in Shenzhen, China, which are considered to be the Asian equivalent to the Grammy Awards, where he performed "Unforgettable Day" accompanied by Ouyang Nana on the piano, and won the "Most Popular International Singer" Award; and the Meeting on the Silk Road Gala, held by the Embassy of Kazakhstan and China's Department of Culture, in Beijing.
Upon returning to Kazakhstan after the completion of Singer 2017, he was welcomed with a congratulatory event in Astana.
Following Singer 2017, Dimash appeared and performed on numerous TV shows and public events in China, Kazakhstan and France.
His performances in France included his performance of "SOS d'un terrien en détresse" in the popular France 2 TV show Les Années Bonheur; his charity performances at the Global Gift Galas in Paris and Cannes ; at the Cannes Film Festival. and at the Ruhani Zhangyru UNESCO Gala in Paris.
On 27 June 2017, he held his first large-scale solo concert Bastau in Astana, Kazakhstan. Most of the three-hour concert was accompanied by a live orchestra; guest singers included Terry Lin, Loreen, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Marat Aitimov; and Dimash performed duets with Maira Mukhamedkyzy, Kristina Orbakaitė and with his parents, Svetlana Aitbayeva and Kanat Aitbayev. Along with popular pieces from Singer 2017 and pre-Singer, he also debuted his new songs "My Star", "Without You", "Last Word", and "Leyla". Bastau was well-received and sold out to a crowd of around 30,000 people.
In July, Dimash's new song "Ocean over Time" was released in China as the theme song for the game Moonlight Blade, that later won a Hollywood Music in Media Award. In the same month, he sang at the Closing Ceremony of Slavic Bazaar in Vitebsk, Belarus, where his international career had started in 2015 and performed several songs for the audience of the 2017 Eurasia International Film Festival and its honorary guests Nicolas Cage and Adrien Brody.
On 16 September, Dimash performed as the headliner at the Gakku Open-Air Festival in Almaty, to a crowd of 150,000 people. Prior to this event, his highest recorded note was G♯7 in whistle register, on par with Mariah Carey. At the Gakku Festival, he surpassed himself by hitting D8 during "Unforgettable Day".
In 2017, the Kazakh figure skater Denis Ten, who was an Olympic medalist and friend of Dimash, began using his rendition of "SOS d'un terrien en détresse" for his skating programs. Later, after the skater's violent death due to an attempted robbery in July 2018, Dimash performed a tribute to him in his concert at Arnau, interpreting the song that Denis used as a musical background for his artistic performances.