11 Kazakhstan performers to take part in New Wave 2011

New Wave 2011 and New Wave Junior 2011 try-outs have been held in Astana, Tengrinews.kz reports. Seven Kazakhstan performers made it into the semifinal of New Wave 2011. The names of the lucky seven talents are: Adylzhan Umarov, Aioka, Dinara Sultan, Rinat Maltsagov and Diana Sharapova all from Almaty, Alau duet from Aktau and Rustem Zhugunussov from Astana. 150 performers applied to take part in the contest. “I am pleased with what we saw yesterday. We selected seven excellent competitors for the semifinal in Moscow. Our main selection criterion is talent and we have chosen the most talented performers,” said Aleksandr Rumyantsev, director general of the contest. Kazakhstan is a leader by the number of talents, Rumyantsev said. Ukraine and Armenia are second and third. This is the first time junior try-outs are held in Kazakhstan. Four Kazakhstan junior performers will take part in the New Wave Junior 2011 semifinal: Vanessa Bezrodnaya (10) and Inkar Nairbekova (11) from Semei, Milena Gonchar (12) from Ust-Kamenogorsk and Roza Sametova (11) from Kyzylorda. New Wave 2011 is an international contest for young pop singers traditionally held in Jurmala, Latvia. This year the contest celebrates its 10th anniversary. The idea to start the talent hunting contest belongs to composers Igor Krutoy and Raymond Pauls. Performers aged from 16 to 30 from 16 countries take part in the contest ever year.