Dimash 'The World's Best'

This is the page where I will talk about Dimash's performances on CBS' The World's Best.

Audition : 'SOS D'un Terrien En Detresse'
Date : February 6, 2019
Wednesday, 9pm EST
Thursday, 10pm, Beijing time

He wore a glam red coat with black pants and he looked exactly like the song... a man in distress.  It could be the light of the flames around him... yes, the piano was on fire and so was the mic stand.  CBS edited the song to fit the program time limits so there was a part that seemed a bit jarring (where he suddenly transitioned to a high note).  But he sang as beautifully as usual.  It was a just bit more raw than usual.  His SOS at the Slavic Bazaar was more slick and sophisticated.  And the judges gave him full marks, 50 50 50!  And the Wall of the World gave him 48/50.  The two holdouts suffered vitriol on their social media accounts afterwards.  Ouch.

Dimash also won the Fan Favourite award (twitter votes by fans!)

Battle Rounds : 'All By Myself'
Date : February 20, 2019
Wednesday, 9pm EST
Thursday, 10pm, Beijing time

From the previews, it looks like Dimash will be wearing a gold traditional Kazakh outfit and THOSE GOLD BOOTS.  I thought he wore them for the first time at the London concert but it looks like the first time was on TWB.  Well, let's see what happens.

Okay it's happened.  And it took me two days to absorb what happened.  Yes, the dears tweeted their fingers off for Dimash and won him the Fan Favourite award.  Maybe that is why it took me a while to update here.

I tuned into CBS early and managed to catch Lydian vs Enkh-Erdene.  Oh man, I got emotional watching the mini maestro and the Mongolian cowboy watch the judges as they keyed in their results.  I was thinking, why do this to the kid?  The man could barely deal with the stress.  Lydian won.  Then I watched Daneliya and Manami the violinist.  Another stressful few moments.  Daneliya broke under the stress and cried.  I cried too.  I'd never make a good mom for a singer.  Daneliya won.  Then it was Dimash's turn.  I watched Sr. Christina sing and thought okay that was it.  She is a good singer but she doesn't have Dimash's charisma and stunning impact... his savoir faire.

The starting was of Kazakh traditional instruments and I held my breath, thinking .. was this a new intro to Daididau?  (I can't help associating Daididau with his gold Kazakh traditional wear).  Dimash smiled and then began to sing 'When I was young... '  It was 'All By Myself.'

It was a tour de force.. a masterpiece.  People can say whatever they want.  But to me, it was heavenly.  YouTube vocal reactors went into technical explanations about how he sang this particular performance but I just sat back and let the music soak in.  This is something some people don't understand... why the dears listen so avidly every time he sings, even though it is a song he has sung many times.  The thing is he never performs it the same way and the experience is just so wonderful.  I can't wait for the next song.

OH, did I mention how dramatic that mic flourish at 2:12 was? Wowsers.

Grand Finale : 'Adagio'Date : March 13, 2019
Wednesday, 9pm EST
Thursday, 10pm, Beijing time

I needed a week to recover from the shock and fallout.

Dimash announced that he was withdrawing to allow the two children Lydian Nadashwaram and Daneliya Tuleshova to advance.  

What a shocker that was.  And the reaction from the judges were awful.  Well, one can't fault the American judges for being upset because Dimash was one of their top draws... well, dare I say he WAS their top draw.  Good looks, killer vocals, global fanbase... perfect champion who looked like he fit the crown better than the crown fit him.  Suddenly I am picturing the dismay experienced by the bigshots behind the show who were probably already planning Dimash's schedules for the next five years.  Well, I have no idea what sort of contract the champion will be expected to sign.  But there will be a contract (aka straitjacket aka noose) for sure.

Not all fans liked the decision he made.  Some were horrified and saw it as a lack of responsibility towards the show.  But later on information started coming out about how Dimash asked before signing on for TWB  if he would be expected to compete against children.  And he actually said this to RuPaul when RuPaul lambasted him. 

See this video made by two people who sat in the audience during the Grand Finale.

Altogether a huge mess.  

But I understand Dimash's dilemma.  On one hand, he has his responsibility towards the show.  On the other, they tricked him... they made him think there would be no children...and Dimash doesn't compete against children.  He probably knew whatever decision he made, he'd be criticised. He might as well make the decision that was closest to his heart and that he could feel good about.

I think his dears fell in love with him even more.  And he won scores of fans in the Philippines (who were backing the TNT Boys) and in India (who were backing Lydian)

TWB was a drainer on me, that's for sure.  So much angst.  But whatever Dimash decided, I would've supported him.  He has proven to me over and over again that he is truly honourable and always tries to make the right decisions.  No, I don't believe he is perfect but he strives to do the right thing.  That is all we can ask of anyone, after all.