Zhanar Dugalova

**Zhanar Dugalova** is a Kazakh singer, who won the Türkvizyon Song Contest 2014 with the song "Izin korem". She was also a former member of the Kazakh pop group KeshYou. Since August 2014 she continued her career independently.

## Biography

### With KeshYou

Zhanar Dugalova, was born in Kyzylorda, in southern Kazakhstan before moving with her family to Almaty. Years before her debut in the music industry she took part in the Zhas Kanat contest, a national music festival which aimed to launch the career of amateur and new singers. After her performance in that festival, the well known producer Bayan Esentayeva started being interested in her voice. She was hailed because of her powerful voice and her beauty. Thanks to that, in late 2012, she released her first single entitled "Süyemin deşı", which was used as a song in the soundtrack of the movie "Ğaşıq jürek" (A cocktail with stars) where she also had a role. The popularity of the film and the success of the song turned the young singer into a celebrity, but her definitive leap to the stardom took place some months later when she was included in the new lineup of Kesh-You, a well-known band in Kazakhstan, which is also known by its almost constant lineup changes. Her first single with Kesh-You was the song "Asıqpa", that was a smash hit in Kazakhstan, topping for months the airplay charts.

Zhanar started being more popular than Aidana Medenova and Kamshat Joldibayeva, the other two vocals of Kesh-You. Thanks to the enormus promotional effort by Bayan Esentayeva, the popularity of the band kept on growing, producing many more hit singles such as the song "Qazaq qızdarı" (Kazakh girls). The band also took part in the first Kazakh national final for the Türkvizyon Song Contest with the song "Rızamın", which achieved the second place, turning into another great hit of the group.
During this part of her music career, Zhanar Dugalova combined her KeshYou trajectory with solo songs.

### Solo

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 classificate for the final show. At the end, she won the festival.

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 Kazah women in which other successful Kazakh personalites such as the female bolleyball player Sabina Altynbekova took part.

## Singles

### With KeshYou

* Asıqpa (2013)
* Qazaq qızdarı (2013)
* Tuwğan jer (2013)
* Rıyzamın (2013)
* Maxabbat (2014)

### Solo

* Tañdanba (2011)
* Süyemin deşi (2012)
* Sen yemes (2012)
* Kim üşin (2013)
* Bir suraq (2013)
* Uwayımdama (2013)
* İzin körem (2014)
* Sen meni tüsinbedin, With Kairat Nurtas (2014)
* Ayta Bersin, with Ninety One on Gakku Äuenderi 2016
* Ala ketpedin (2017)