On the eve of the visit of the President of China to the Republic of Kazakhstan, the heroes of the program “Ideas Change” were people who made significant contributions to the development of Kazakh-Chinese friendship. The filming took place in Dimash’s homeland, Kazakhstan.
As the main character of the project, Dimash spoke about his first performance at the Spring Festival in China:
“I remember that memorable performance. It was in 2018 when I had the honor to share the stage with my friends Tia Ray and Xiao Jingteng.
We sang in Chinese. I remember being very nervous because, like any normal sane person, I always get nervous before each performance. It was funny and great! That performance helped me to increase my fan base in China.
Before that, after my participation in the show ‘I Am a Singer,’ I had already started performing in big concerts not only in China but also worldwide. The Spring Festival helped me solidify my position.
I want to thank the Chinese people and the Chinese audience for showing 22-year-old Dimash to the whole world. After that, of course, my career took off, and that must be acknowledged.
The Chinese audience as a whole holds a special place in my heart because, no matter how much time I spend there, no matter how often I perform there, they always surprise me and show their love. Thanks to them, I am inspired and work even harder.”
Dimash shared memories of his first meeting with the President of China, Mr. Xi Jinping, and his performance in Xi’an at the “Central Asia – China” summit:
“I remember getting a call a couple of weeks before the concert inviting me to perform there. I was very happy to accept this invitation. If my art can somehow contribute to strengthening diplomatic relations between our countries, if I can do anything for this, I will always be happy and ready to perform anywhere.
I know that presidents have a heavy burden. I remember singing two songs. The first song was in Chinese, and the second was in Kazakh. I was told that the Chinese president loves this song in my performance.
What I noticed immediately is that he is a very deep person. He tries to understand what the song is about, which is important. Overall, it is clear that he is a person of high culture.
I first met Mr. Xi Jinping in 2017 after my return from the project ‘I Am a Singer.’ I remember that after I performed, he approached me and expressed his opinion about me in general, about my art, and my rise in China. He gave his blessing and confessed that he is a fan of my work and that his wife also follows my work. It was, of course, very, very pleasant. It was gratifying and responsible, you could say.
More than 7 years have passed since then. During this time, I have come to understand that Chinese culture and history are very deep and extensive. We are neighbors, which says it all. In terms of culture, I want more representatives from our field to work in this direction because everyone in the world knows who Jackie Chan is, for example.
Everyone knows what Chinese culture represents. Likewise, a few people from Kazakhstan should emerge who will glorify our culture and our country worldwide. Naturally, in this regard, cultural exchange between China and Kazakhstan will be further strengthened.
It can be said that Kazakhstan and China are proving in practice that very good diplomatic relations can be established, which makes me very happy.
My mission is to sing about peace, love, understanding, and friendship. This is what I always want to convey to listeners and viewers not only in China and Kazakhstan but all over the world because I want all people to live in peace and harmony without war.”