Mondevision Song Contest 02

**Mondevision Song Contest 02** was the second edition of the Mondevision Song Contest. It was held in the Astana Arena in the Kazakh capital Astana. The shows were hosted by Zhanar Dugalova.

The winner of this edition was Northern Cyprus' Eleni Foureira who competed with the song "Mono Gia Sena".

## Host city, venue and presenter

### Host country

Kazakhstan is a transcontinental country in northern Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country, and the ninth largest in the world, with an area of 2,724,900 square kilometres (1,052,100 sq mi). Kazakhstan is the dominant nation of Central Asia economically, generating 60% of the region's GDP, primarily through its oil/gas industry. It also has vast mineral resources.

Kazakhstan is officially a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage. Kazakhstan shares borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, and also adjoins a large part of the Caspian Sea. The terrain of Kazakhstan includes flatlands, steppe, taiga, rock canyons, hills, deltas, snow-capped mountains, and deserts. Kazakhstan has an estimated 18 million people as of 2014, Given its large land area, its population density is among the lowest, at less than 6 people per square kilometre (15 people per sq. mi.). The capital is Astana, where it was moved in 1997 from Almaty, the country's largest city.

### Host city

Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. It is located on the banks of Ishim River in the north portion of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, though administrated separately from the region as a city with special status. The 2014 census reported a population of 835,153 within the city limits, making it the second largest city in Kazakhstan, behind Almaty.

Founded in 1830 as a settlement of Akmoly (Kazakh: Ақмолы) or Akmolinsky prikaz (Russian: Акмолинский приказ), it served as a defensive fortification for the Siberian Cossacks. In 1832 the settlement was granted a town status and renamed Akmolinsk (Russian: Акмолинск). On March 20, 1961 the city was renamed Tselinograd (Russian: Целиноград) to mark the city's evolution as a cultural and administrative center of the Virgin Lands Campaign. In 1992 it was renamed Akmola (Kazakh: Ақмола), the modified original name meaning "a white grave". On December 10, 1997 Akmola replaced Almaty as the capital of Kazakhstan. On May 6, 1998 it was renamed Astana, which means "the capital city" in Kazakh.
Modern Astana is a planned city, like Brasília in Brazil, Canberra in Australia, Huambo in Angola and Washington, D.C. in the United States. After Astana became the capital of Kazakhstan, the city cardinally changed its shape. The master plan of Astana was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. As the seat of the Government of Kazakhstan, Astana is the site of the Parliament House, the Supreme Court, the Ak Orda Presidential Palace and numerous government departments and agencies. It is home to many futuristic buildings, hotels and skyscrapers. Astana also has extensive healthcare, sports and education systems.

### Presenter

Zhanar Dugalova is a Kazakh singer, who won the *Türkvizyon Song Contest 2014* with the song "Izin korem". She is also a former member of the Kazakh pop group KeshYou. After many years of popularity with KeshYou, Zhanar left the band and started her solo career definitively. She started releasing more solo songs, also with the collaboration of her producer Bayan Esentayeva. Her popularity started increasing even more with those songs but her total recognition in Kazakhstan and the rest of the Turkic-speaking countries became widespread with her victory in the second national final for the Turkvision Song Contest with the song "Izin Körem." In the festival, which took place in Kazan, Russia she managed to qualify, which she then won.
Turned into a national heroine, Zhanar released more songs and took part in many national events. In 2015, the singer met Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president Kazakhstan, who invited her to a convention of Kazakhstani women in which other successful Kazakhstani personalities such as the female volleyball player Sabina Altynbekova took part.

## Countries

* Germany
* Moldova

## External links

* Official Discord server of the MVSC
* Official YouTube channel of the Mondevision Song Contest and the Current Music Competition