Kazakh popular singer transforms into Louis Armstrong at Russian TV show

Kazakhstan’s popular singer Batyrkhan Shukenov has impersonated a famous American jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong at Odin v Odin (The Same) TV show, a Russian version of Spanish Tu cara me suena (Your Face Sounds Familiar), which began on Russia-1 TV channel on February 8, Tengrinews reports.

The main task for the participants of this show is to perform on stage and impersonate legendary musicians of the past and present. Not only should they look like them, but also their singing and dancing style should be simular. Professional mentors and make-up-artists help the participants in their transformation.

The jury consists of Russian actress Lyudmila Artemyeva, actor Vitaliy Gogunsky, actor Yuri Stoyanov, actress and host Nonna Grishaeva. They evaluate the performances at the end of each show and award them points (2-12). Besides, each participant awards five points to one other participant, whose performance they liked.

Besides Batyrkhan Shukenov, the participants of the third season are Ruslan Alehno, Alexander Rybak, Nikita Malinin, Mark Tishman, Shura, Svetlana Svetikova, Angelica, Evelyn Bledans and Marina Kravets.

During the show, it was almost impossible to recognize Batyrkhan Shukenov in his new image until captions that said that the Kazakh singer was on stage appeared on the screen. According to the jury, Shukenov presented the image of the American singer Louis Armstrong exceptionally well.

Batyrkhan Shukenov, in turn, said he treated the transformation with a bit of humor. It took four hours to do the makeup, which included painting the face and hands, hiding the singer’s hair under a hairnet and gluing on a new curly hair.
 

Photo courtesy of the singer's official profile in Vkontakte.

Batyrkhan Shukenov is a popular Kazakh singer. Born in Kyzylorda in Kazakhstan's south, he began to gain popularity after becoming a frontman in A-Studio, a Kazakhstan-based pop music band, in 1987.

In 1989, A-Studio's song Julia caught the attention of famous Russian singers Philipp Kirkorov and Alla Pugacheva. Pugacheva then invited them to her annual Christmas Meeting in 1990 and introduced them as the best band in the country (at the time, the USSR). The song, as well as the band, immediately became popular across the USSR.

In 2000, Shukenov left the band to pursue a solo career. Two years later, he recorded his first solo album called Otan Ana with songs in Kazakh language. 

In 2009, Batyrkhan Shukenov became a UNICEF's representative in Kazakhstan.

Writing by Assel Satubaldina, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina