Kazakhstan | Khabar agency reveals its Eurovision ambitions

As Kazakhstan is set to make their Junior Eurovision debut in Belarus next month, the questions on every one's mind is, will Kazakhstan be making a Eurovision debut?

ESCToday reached out to the CEO of Khabar Agency, Alan Azhibayev, one of Kazakhstan's national broadcasters, about a potential Eurovision debut for the country:

"Eurovision is one of the most popular contests in the world having a rich history. This is a great event, where music and friendship are the most important things. Different cultures of the world unite here.

Historically, our country has always had that special feeling about music. That's one of the reasons why Kazakhstan viewers pay much attention to international music contests and Eurovision in particular.

Eurovision is all about diversity of cultures and music genres. Kazakhstan's music industry is diverse as well. I think our artists should broaden the contest's program and introduce their unique music to viewers around the world.

Also, our country has always been showing a good will to be a part of the world community and live in peace with every country. Taking part in the contest would give us a great opportunity to tell about our intentions again."

Kazakhstan has been broadcasting the contest every year since 2012, and they broadcast all three shows live in 2017 and 2018, as Azibayev states:

"Khabar Agency has been broadcasting Eurovision since 2012. Our viewers have always been interested in the contest and support participants from different countries. It’s one of few projects gathering a whole family for watching a show. I want to say, broadcasting Eurovision is a wonderful tradition, and we’re planning to continue it."

Khabar agency became an EBU associate member in January 2016. However, because they are only an associate member, it means they will not be able to participate in Eurovision unless they receive a formal invitation from the EBU, just as they do with Australia.

Speaking to ESCToday about what Kazakhstan could bring to Eurovision, Azibayev had this to say:

"...As I mentioned before, there are a lot of music genres represented in Kazakhstan. Each of them has been developing under different influences. For instance, traditional music is a part of Kazakh nomad culture and cultures of all the nations living in our country. There are also some musicians combining several genres in an unusual way. We would like to share this with the world. I think if we participate in Eurovision, we would mix modern and traditional styles and present the contest viewers with something new, fresh and unique."

Check out our reaction video to Kazakhstan's debut Junior Eurovision song: