Silk Way Star creators reveal stage secrets ahead of grand finale

Over the past three months, artists from 12 countries have delivered more than 90 unique performances for the Silk Way Star vocal project in Astana. As the final approaches on November 22, the project team has revealed details about the show’s artistic design, technical challenges, and preparations.

Scenography as a metaphor for the Silk Road

The project’s Chief Editor, Kassymkhan Aldashev, explained that the visual concept of Silk Way Star is inspired by the Silk Road, which symbolizes cultural connection and progress.

“At the core of the structure is a continuous ascending route: from the stage surface to an upward-soaring light spiral. For us, this represents the artist’s path — from the first step onto the stage to the peak of the international finale,” Aldashev emphasized.

The multi-level stage and its hovering LED spiral served as a central symbol of the show. This dynamic structure allowed contestants to execute countless artistic concepts, ranging from minimalistic to ethnic and futuristic.

How the performances are created

Anatoliy Frolov, the project's Chief Director, said that the team prepared individual staging for each artist.

The set utilized 15 cameras, an LED floor, and a specially created spiral array of LED screens, onto which graphics and visual accents for each performance were displayed.

“The design embodies the idea of a single path. Attentive viewers spotted the letter ‘S’, representing Silk Way Star and symbolizing upward movement,” Frolov said.

According to him, in 99.9% of cases, performances were created strictly in line with the director’s concept. However, artists added their own elements to highlight the style of the country they represent.

Backstage: what remains off-camera

Each performance involves the work of dozens of specialists: directors, camera operators, the technical crew, music producers, prop masters, lighting and sound engineers, choreographers, stylists, and makeup artists.

Assistant director Anora Abdurakhmanova noted that stage changes between performances take from two to five minutes: “We rehearse transitions repeatedly before the live show to ensure every second adheres to the timing.”

The technical crew also said that some acts required challenging solutions. They utilized movable metal trusses that were raised and lowered during the performance. These trusses were used to create, for example, the image of a shanyraq (roof crown of a yurt).

They also included stunt elements: a climber ascended the top of the stage and dropped props exactly on time for a visual effect. Such performances require maximum precision and strict safety measures.

What to expect in the grand finale

According to the chief director, the finale will differ from the previous nine broadcasts:

“We have impressed the audience with large-scale decorations and complex graphics. However, the finale will be different as we decided to give the artists more space for pure vocal performance.”

The creative team is finalizing rehearsals, and the finalists are preparing the strongest performances of the season.

As Qazinform reported, the Grand Finale will take place on November 22 and will be aired live on the Jibek Joly TV channel at 8 p.m. Simultaneous broadcasts will be held in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia.

Seven singers qualified for the Silk Way Star final::

• ALEM (Kazakhstan)

• Yazmin Aziz (Malaysia)

• Avtandil Abeslamidze (Georgia)

• Michelle Joseph (Mongolia)

• Zhang Hexuan (China)

• Saro Gevorgyan (Armenia)

• Madinabonu Adilova (Uzbekistan)

The winner of the first Asian mega-project will be determined through a combined system:

50% - jury decision, 50% - online voting by viewers.

Everyone can support their favorite contestant on the silkwaystar.org website.

The Project Silk Way Star is being implemented as part of an agreement between the Television and Radio Complex of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and China Media Group (CMG).