The largest vocal project in Asia: 120 million viewers watched the grand final of Silk Way Star
A press conference was held in Astana following the grand final of the international vocal competition Silk Way Star — the first Asian mega-project that united performers from 12 countries. The organizers spoke about the expansion of the project’s geography, as well as the countries that expressed a desire to join the next season, Qazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
During the briefing, consolidated data from the audience voting and evaluations of the jury were presented. A total of 508,287 people from different states took part in the voting — one of the highest figures among music projects in the region, confirming the growing international interest in the format. The final distribution of places was determined by a combined system: 50% audience voting, 50% jury evaluations.
“Silk Way Star became a platform that united Asia’s cultural diversity. The project showed how music strengthens mutual understanding between countries and creates a space for dialogue. Audience engagement — more than half a million votes — demonstrates the rapid growth of interest in such international formats across the region,” Erkezhan Kuntugan, Managing Director of the Jibek Joly and Silk Way TV channel, said.
Audience voting results:
— Michelle Joseph (Mongolia) – 112,241 votes
— Madinabonu Adylova (Uzbekistan) – 85,443
— Zhang He Xuan (China) – 73,662
— Yazmin Aziz (Malaysia) – 73,609
— Saro Gevorgyan (Armenia) – 73,160
— Avtandil Abeslamidze (Georgia) – 46,027
— ALEM (Kazakhstan) – 32,145
Posts about the final appeared on social media among residents of 25 countries. Users from CIS states, the Caucasus, East and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, as well as North and South America wrote about the project.
The Head of the Main Editorial Office of the Eurasian Bureau of CMG, Wang Delu, noted that the Silk Way Star became an important event for cultural cooperation in the region. According to him, Chinese viewers highly appreciated the organization of the competition.
“Yesterday we did not even expect that the respected President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev would send congratulations to the participants. This is a high assessment of the organizational work and a sign of trust in China’s media corporation. We are ready to take the baton. The next season will be held in China, and in December we will discuss the details based on the experience of our Kazakh colleagues,” he said.
The CMG representative also reported that preparations for the second season in China have already begun. A final decision has been made regarding the host: the new season will be hosted by Kazakh TV presenter Diana Skatova.
Despite the tradition of holding the next season in the winner’s country, Silk Way Star has a different format: the project is a joint initiative of Kazakhstan and China. Therefore, the first season started in Astana, and the next will continue at a Chinese venue.
Interest in participating in the competition was expressed by Indonesia, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam — countries that did not have time to join the first season. This fall organizers also received inquiries from representatives of Arab states. The Ambassador of Kuwait, who attended the final, confirmed the region’s interest. Given the absence of similar vocal projects covering the entire continent, expanding the geography of participation appears logical. The organizers plan not to limit the competition to 12 countries.
The winner of Silk Way Star, Michelle Joseph from Mongolia, stated at the press conference that she is preparing a song in the Kazakh language.
“I am already working on a Kazakh song. I really love Kazakh culture and the language. It is beautiful, and I want to learn it. I also want to release a song for my Kazakh listeners,” she said.
In total, viewers from 43 countries sent votes for the participants. The highest activity was recorded in Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, the USA, Russia, Turkey, Germany, Singapore, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Georgia, and Malaysia.
The live broadcast of the final in Kazakhstan was aired on the Jibek Joly TV channel. Parallel broadcasts were carried out by the channels “Music” and “Madaniyat” in Kyrgyzstan, Space TV in Azerbaijan, TV Safina in Tajikistan, and in Mongolia — UBS and AIST GLOBAL. The total audience of live broadcasts on TV and streaming services amounted to about 120 million viewers worldwide.
Silk Way Star became the first vocal mega-project that not only gathered artists from different countries but formed a new cultural axis of Asia. For the first time, Asia is offering the world its own format — bold, large-scale, and with the ambitions of a global cultural center.
The project demonstrated a record level of engagement: few music shows in Asia are able to gather an audience comparable to European and American formats. Passing the next season to China turns Silk Way Star into a mobile cultural platform that can move between regions, similar to the Olympics.
When the competition winner starts singing in the language of the host country, it is no longer just a show — it is cultural exchange that influences the creative trajectories of the artists.
To note, the agreement on the implementation of the “Silk Way Star” project was signed on June 16, 2025, in Astana in the presence of the heads of state — President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Chairman of the PRC Xi Jinping.
As Qazinform reported earlier, during the post-finale press conference one of the international jurors of the Silk Way Star announced plans for a potential collaboration between Korean and Kazakh musicians.
