Kazakhstan

**Kazakhstan** has participated in the Melodivision Song Contest thirteen times since their debut in the third edition. They debuted with the song "Hey-la" performed by Ayumi featuring Batyr, and placed 18th in the final. Kazakhstan's best position was scored in the ninth edition where Indira Edilbaeva finished 8th with the song "Zharygym".

## History

It was confirmed in late May 2016 by Khabar Agency that Kazakhstan would be making their debut in the third edition in Madrid, Spain. The nation had intended to debut in the second edition already, but missed the deadline thus not being able to take part in the edition. The nation hold an internal national final, and Ayumi went onto win the national final. On 1 June 2016 it was confirmed that Ayumi would be representing the nation with Kazakh-languaged song "Hey-la" featuring Batyr. Kazakhstan was drawn to perform 10th in the grand final. Out of the 28 participating nations Kazakhstan finished only 18th in the final, scoring 43 points. This, however, did not upset the nation at all as it was confirmed on 4 June 2016, just a day after the grand final that Kazakhstan would be participating in the fourth edition of the contest held in Sofia, Bulgaria. Due to dense deadlines, Khabar Agency was forced to decide the artist internally without a national final. Zhanar Dugalova was selected as the Kazakh representative with Kazakh-languaged song "Ayta bersin". Set to perform 24th in the grand final, Khabar Agency has high expectations. However, out of 30 entries the Kazakh entry ended up in the bottom 5. They only finished 26th with 14 points.

On 14 June 2016 Khabar Agency announced that Kazakhstan would be withdrawing from the contest due to "too densely organized editions." This, the fifth edition, was the first time the nation was withdrawing from the contest since their debut in the third edition. However, it was later confirmed that Kazakhstan only withdrew to properly construct their selection process, and it was announced a few weeks later that a national final with 5 entries was being organized to select the Kazakh representative for the sixth edition held in Thessaloniki, Greece. Ninety One was selected as the Kazakh entrant with Kazakh-languaged song "Kaitadan". This was the first time Kazakhstan took part after the introduction of the semi-finals, and was set to perform second to last as 19th in the first semi-final. This also marked the first edition Kazakhstan failed to make an appearance at the finals as the nation finished second to last with 10 points. Khabar Agency announced yet again that Kazakhstan would be withdrawing from the contest stating internal issues as the reason thus missing the seventh edition of the contest.

It was confirmed in November 2016 by Khabar Agency that Kazakhstan would be able to take part in the eight edition of the contest held in Páfos, Cyprus. Kazakhstan was drawn to perform in the second semi-final held on 17 December 2016, the birthday of the current head of delegation, @eurovisionspirit since the twentieth edition. It was also confirmed on 1 December 2016 that Sasha Holiday would represent Kazakhstan with English-languaged song "Chameleon". Kazakhstan was set to perform 10th in the semi-final. Kazakhstan finished 6th with 79 points, thus qualifying for the grand final. The nation then went onto perform 22nd the grand final, finishing 21st with 59 points.

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Kazakhstan decided to withdraw for the 19th edition after quite a many unsuccessful editions to focus on upgrading their selection process to secure better results in future editions. On 23 December 2018 Khabar Agency announced that Kazakhstan would be returning in the 20th edition after having fixed their internal selection process. No news about the Kazakh entry were revealed, but it has been speculated that the nation would be singing in Russian in the upcoming edition in the United States. It was later confirmed that the entry would be revealed in January 2019. It was first confirmed on 25 December 2018 that Kristina Si would represent the nation in the 20th edition with a Russian-languaged song, but on 1 January 2019 Khabar Agency announced that negotions regarding Kristina Si's participation for Kazakhstan had been cut down, and instead Kazakh singer Luina would represent the nation in the United States with Kazakh-languaged song "Hey yo!". As Kazakhstan was able to achieve a great result in the 20th edition, the broadcaster deciced to sign a permanent contract with the new head of delegation, thus confirming their participation for the 21st edition held in Ukraine. The rumoured entrant is said to be a band, but no official statements have been made concerning the artist itself.

## Contestants

The following lists the contestants that represented Kazakhstan in the Melodivision Song Contest.

Table key
     *Winner*
     *Second place*
     *Third place*
     *Last place*
     *Did not participate or was relegated*