Bambi discovered this version of the eternal “Et si tu n’existais pas?” song yesterday while listening to a Lebanese-American internet radio. She was intrigued by the voice and made a quick search on Youtube. She would like to share the song with you.
The group is called Made in KZ and this is the translation of its description: “Made in KZ is a symbiosis of world hits, velvet vocals and age-old dombra sound! Our mission is to introduce the Kazakh folklore to the world, to promote the national values and ideology of the Kazakh people! [“гр.Made in KZ – это симбиоз мировых хитов,бархатного вокала и векового звучания домбры! Наша миссия заключается в том,чтобы познакомить мир с казахским фольклором,пропагандировать национальные ценности и идеологию Казахского народа!]”.
Kazakh people are Turkic-speaking people of Central Asia, living mainly in Kazakhstan and the nearby parts of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China (https://bit.ly/40Zx4ed). As per Britannica (https://bit.ly/40Zx4ed), “the Kazakhs emerged in the 15th century from an amalgam of Turkic tribes who entered Transoxiana about the 8th century and of Mongols who entered the area in the 13th century“. Of note, according to Statistics Canada (2021), about 1415 Canadians reported speaking Kazakh, which is a Turkic language (https://bit.ly/3NmRRoC).
Bearing the above in mind, Bambi is lucky because she once randomly met one of these Turkic- fellow citizens in Toronto, Ontario. If her memory is accurate (after about 19-20 years), the encounter was with one of the sweetest salesperson she has ever met. This lady asked Bambi, while closing a transaction, if she was born in Canada. Bambi replied that she actually was born in Beirut, Lebanon and asked: Do you know this place? The lady said no. Then, Bambi said: It is in the the Western part of Asia. Do you know the Middle East? The lady said no. Bambi thought to herself. Maybe her birth country is too tiny. She asked her if she knows Israel or Syria; Lebanon’s famous neighbours. She said no. Well, Bambi replied then: “Lucky you; you do not know neither Israel nor Syria” :). With all due respect to all the world’s beautiful countries including the two latter, Bambi’s joke stemmed from the fact that back then Lebanon was occupied by its two powerful neighbours. Anyhow, that fun interaction stopped there with mutual smiles, thank you, and a good-bye.
You can guess that when Bambi discovered this talented singer and her two musicians, she recalled the incident reported above. If she may, she wants to dedicate this song to this fellow Canadian citizen, to the Made in KZ artists, and through them to all the people with a Kazakh ancestry, including those back home and around the world.
