Turkish Olympics Song Contestants Wow Audience in Capital Ankara
The song contest portion of the 6th International Turkish Language Olympics was held Monday, with the 19 students who qualified for the competition giving an unforgettable show at the Anatolia Show and Congress Center in Ankara.
The students from a number of countries performed songs from a variety of genres, making it difficult for the jury to select the final 10 who then competed to get the highest number of votes from the viewing audience. The 10 finalists are from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Latvia, Cambodia, Tajikistan, Indonesia, Mongolia, Russia, Albania and Yemen. The top three places in the song contest will be determined according to the number of votes contestants receive via text messages. Viewers will be able to send their texts until the day of the awards ceremony on June 1 in Istanbul.
Ilker Gültekin was the announcer for the song contest, which began with singing of the national anthem and an opening speech delivered by Turkish Olympics Committee Chairman Mehmet Saglam. The chairman indicated that the primary objective in organizing the Olympics is "to ensure that the Turkish language becomes a language of love and tolerance around the world and has a special place among other world languages as a language of culture and science." Making a reference to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who said: "Every Turk will do his/her best to improve Turkey," Saglam added: "This is a hallowed mission entrusted to us. Here is the Turkish Olympics, also held in 110 countries on five continents." Describing the teachers who work in the Turkish schools around the world and the businessmen who support them as "heroes," Saglam said: "Of course, there is also the mastermind of this initiative, who is far from home. This event is only possible with his support. We would like to express our thanks to him."
The World Colors Choir's musical number gave messages of friendship, brotherhood and love as the members of the choir held up a placard reading, "The Turkish Olympics Taste Like Aşure," a reference to the rich, traditional dessert composed of fruit, nuts and grains. As a setting for the musical, they used a ship with sails representing the countries of the world to give the message, "We are all traveling in the same boat." The jury was chaired by Turkish Language Society President Sükrü Haluk Akalin and included Erhan Güleryüz, Ertugrul Erkisi, Gürkan Vural, Mehmet Hayri Altan, Professor Murat Özbay, Nuray Hafiftas, Orhan Seyfi Güner, Associate Professor Salih Aydogan, Professor Yücel Elmas, Zekai Tunca and Deniz Arcak.
Loyalty Prize awarded to Hüseyin Demirtas
During the program, Hüseyin Demirtas was posthumously awarded the Loyalty Prize. Demirtas was a teacher who traveled to a school in Kazakhstan where he worked for 12 years, gaining popularity among the Kazakh people. He passed away last year. Ibrahim Sahin, the general manager of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), presented the prize to Demirtas's widow, Münevver, and his daughter. "The children spoke Turkish better than us. Perhaps we should keep silent," Sahin said.
Finalists in the song contest
Azerbaijan - Hatice Alizade
Turkmenistan - Abadan Halmedova
Latvia - Anna Zelencava
Cambodia - Maliny Chea
Tajikistan - Suman Kurbanova
Indonesia - Nixiie Lesmana
Mongolia - Togsbayar Enkhtaivan
Russian Federation - Darya Shkalkova
Albania - Blerta Gjolaj
Yemen - Sara Mohamad.
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