Amateur singer in Kazakhsan Voice final

An amateur singer Timur Omarov, 20, from Temirtau has made into the final of The Kazakhstan Voice contest (similar to internationally renowned The Voice), Tengrinews reports citing Novyi Vestnik. The finale of the first edition of Kazakhstan's The Voice will take place at 9:35 p.m. Astana time on January 12 in Kazakhstan TV channel studio. The audience will use SMS-voting to choose the winner from among the few lucky participants selected by the jury Nurlan Alban, Medeu Arynbayev, Almas Kishkenbayev and Madina Sadvakasova for the finals. The winner will get 5 million tenge ($32,000) and a contract with a recording company. Timur Omarov has never taking singing lessons or attended a music school, but he has already proved himself by winning Zhas Sunkar competition twice. The first season of The Kazakhstan Voice started in summer 2013. Like the American version, the Kazakhstani competition relies heavily on the vocal abilities. The judges sit facing the audience during the trials and cannot see the participants. The only criteria is the voice. After several preliminary stages the participants form four teams and only the best 4 singers get into the finals.