Childhood and youth
Selim Alakhyarov was born in December 1987 in the capital of the Chechen Republic - the city of Grozny. After the start of the first Chechen war, the family moved to Derbent, then to Makhachkala. By his own admission, Selim, as long as he can remember, he sang, participated in all Dagestan song competitions, fortunately his mother worked as a vocal teacher. It was Maya Ragimkhanovna who revealed that her son had perfect pitch and clear intonation. Selim's father is a surgeon, he worked at the medical college in the city of Derbent.
Selim Alakhyarov in 2017
Even as a child, Alakhyarov’s biography could have taken a sharp turn when the chance arose to go to study in Italy, at the school of Luciano Pavarotti. Margarita Costa, the Italian Ambassador to Azerbaijan, volunteered to help the talented child. But with the condition - to accept Azerbaijani citizenship. Selim, being only an 8-year-old child, showed patriotism and refused.
The famous Dagestan composer and teacher Murad Kazhlaev came to the rescue. At his suggestion, in 1999 the boy was accepted into the Academy of Choral Art named after. Alexandra Sveshnikov (now the academy bears the name of its founder, Viktor Sergeevich Popov). But due to financial difficulties, Selim’s parents soon took him home.
Selim Alakhyarov in his youth
In Makhachkala, Alakhyarov graduated from the music school named after Gottfried Hasanov and went again to Moscow to storm the music school named after the Gnessins. In “Gnesinka” Selim turned out to be the first Dagestani student of the faculty of academic singing. To enter this prestigious educational institution, Selim overcame a competition of five people per place, impressing the admissions committee with his natural abilities.
Then the future singer was lucky again: he was the only one from the entire stream who was accepted for study by Dmitry Vdovin, a professor at the Academy of Choral Arts, one of the founders and directors of the International School of Vocal Arts. Selim completed an internship with Alexander Vedernikov and Sergei Moskalkov.
Selim Alakhyarov
During his studies, Selim lived in the Moscow region, in Krasnogorsk, graduated from a modeling school and worked as a model for Vyacheslav Zaitsev. Selim’s mother said that life was difficult and that they gave up many times. But hearing her son sing alone with himself, she decided that she would sacrifice everything, but create the necessary conditions.
Music
Selim Alakhyarov has a rare lyric-dramatic baritone. He is a prize-winner and winner of the “Perepelochka”, “Talents of the 21st Century”, “Maryana” competitions, and a laureate of awards at various international vocal competitions. The singer's repertoire includes both ancient Italian arias in the Baroque style and works of postmodernism. The closest in spirit to Alakhyarov is the crossover style (neoclassical). Among his colleagues on stage, he singles out the vocal group “Kvatro”, Sergei Volchkov, Evgeniy Kungurov and Ksenia Dezhneva.
Selim believes that this direction in music is underdeveloped in Russia, there is no good school. Therefore, she listens to Andrea Bocelli, Alessandro Safina, and Sarah Brightman as teaching aids. And even when performing pop songs, he adheres to the academic style.
At the end of September 2020, Selim Alakhyarov won the Grand Prix of the X International Vocal Festival “Golden Voice of Russia”. 100 performers took part in the competition, the jury was headed by the world opera star Lyubov Kazarnovskaya. At the end of the competition, Kazarnovskaya invited Selim for an internship and a joint performance in the “Duet with a Star” program.
Special Merits
Not so long ago, another award appeared in Selim’s life, which occupies a special place among others, because it is the Grand Prix of the International Vocal Competition called “Golden Voice of Russia”. The competition was great. Together with Alakhyarov, another hundred performers fought for first places. The talents were judged by Lyubov Kazarnovskaya herself, who can safely be called one of the brightest stars of the opera stage. When the festival ended, the star turned to Selim with an incredible proposal. She decided to invite the guy to train with her and perform with her on the popular program “Duet with a Star.”
Selim became the winner in the show “The Voice”
But Selim was not going to stop there; he decided to take part in “The Voice”, where he came under the tutelage of Alexander Gradsky. The end of 2017 became enchanting for Alakhyarov, given his victory in the project. It is very difficult to argue that the guy deserved first place, looking at how confidently he walked towards the final throughout the entire song competition.
"Voice 6"
Selim got into the sixth season of the show “The Voice”, like everyone else, by filling out an application and passing the casting. The artist admitted that, despite his extensive experience performing on stage, he was very nervous. At the blind auditions, Alakhyarov performed Muslim Magomayev’s song “Ferris Wheel” and qualified for Alexander Gradsky’s team.
Selim successfully overcame the stage of duels, where he touched the jury with his performance of the song “Don’t Disappear” in a duet with Aldona Tskua. For the knockout stage, the singer chose the song “You're My World” by Cilla Black. Selim continued his further struggle for victory in the project in the company of Laura Gorbunova.
On December 29, 2020, the final of the “Voice” show took place, in which Selim, Chinese Yang Ge, Timofey Kopylov and Czech Ladislav Bubnar competed for the title of the best vocalist of the country. The audience felt that Selim deserved the victory, bringing his mentor another success in the project.
Selim Alakhyarov: how the victory in the main music show of the country was “forged”
MAKHACHKALA, January 18 – RIA “Dagestan”
. A press conference with the winner of the sixth season of the “Voice” project on Channel One, Honored Artist of Dagestan Selim Alakhyarov, was held today at the RIA “Dagestan” site.
In a conversation with representatives of the republican media, he spoke about the last stage of the competition, the upcoming solo concert in Dagestan, future plans and debut at the Gradsky Hall.
Meeting in Dagestan
Selim Alakhyarov arrived in his native republic on January 16. He was met at the airport by the acting Minister of Culture of the Republic Zarema Butaeva.
The artist noted that he did not expect such attention from the head of the department and other greeters, since he did not talk about his arrival in the republic.
Later, he met with the Acting Chairman of the Government of Dagestan Abdusamad Hamidov, at which the singer was presented with a personalized watch of the Head of the Republic.
Victory in "The Voice"
According to Alakhyarov, participation in the competition is a test not only of vocal abilities, but also of moral and volitional qualities. “Not many people can stand it. In order to go through this again, I need to recover for at least a year. From the outside, everything seems beautiful and colorful. But in reality there is a load, like during harsh army training. Let’s say that in order to shoot a 15-second video, you had to arrive in the morning and be in a cold pavilion, where there is no opportunity to eat.
Take the same ending. The day before the event there is a dress rehearsal until late, the next day in the morning there are rehearsals again. Before going on stage and singing my works, I sang them about 20 times. You get very exhausted and go on stage in an exhausted state.
There were guys who simply couldn’t stand it and flew away. Many artists think that they can cope without problems, but it is not so easy. For example, I lost 14 kilograms. Despite the fact that I have extensive experience performing on stage and am physically well prepared.
Therefore, those guys who want to try themselves on the project should be ready for all this. Many people believe that nothing is needed other than talent. In fact, talent is only 10-15% of success, everything else needs to be developed in everyday classes,” said the winner of the project.
He also added that during the competition he did not feel any bias on the part of mentors, organizers and participants.
Song selection
The performer said that all the songs except the first and “Cranes” were chosen by Alexander Gradsky.
“I wanted to sing the song “Cranes” for a very long time and suggested it to my mentor. Everything else was chosen by Alexander Borisovich. As a professional, he knows better what the television format needs. But these songs did not reveal the potential of my voice even by 50%. I was very surprised how Alexander Borisovich invited me to sing Tsoi. Subsequently, this performance caused many negative reviews. But I am always guided by and accept criticism from people who can judge objectively and reasonably. And from those people who visit our theater, I received only positive reviews for this song,” he said.
About physical condition and emotions after the victory
According to Alakhyarov, after the results of the final were announced, first of all, he was happy for his people and that all the efforts of those people who supported him and their personal efforts were not in vain.
“I felt the support of the entire republic, the entire Caucasus, and the entire country. The audience’s votes were divided 50/50 between residents of the Caucasus and the rest of Russia,” he shared.
At the same time, Alakhyarov noted, it was physically impossible to fully rejoice at the success: “By the finals I was so exhausted that I got very sick. Three days before the broadcast, I caught a cold and had to go out with a fever under antibiotics.”
He also admitted that for a long time he could not get enough sleep. “I hope I won’t have to live my days in this rhythm in the future. Because it's quite hard. I would like to normalize everything,” the vocalist complained.
Alakhyarov shared that he maintains good relations with all members of the team. “It is the sixth project, the editor notes, that is the most friendly. You've probably seen my relationship with other team members. There was no aggression or anything like that. I'm glad that I ended up in the sixth season and met these guys. We are all good friends, we visit each other and communicate,” he said.
Debut at the Gradsky Hall Theater
In January, Alakhyarov made his debut at the Moscow Gradsky Hall Theater. According to the vocalist, Alexander Gradsky himself suggested working there. “This was before the quarterfinals. Of course, I agreed, since it is a great honor to work under the leadership of such a person. The first performance went great. Sang Vysotsky and Magomayev. The audience greeted us very well and called for an encore several times,” he said.
Other competitions
Answering a question about plans to participate in other music competitions, Alakhyarov emphasized that only Eurovision is higher, but he does not aspire to go there, since “this competition is more political than vocal.”
“I don’t see any point in going to less popular and media projects. Most likely, I will take part in international academic singing competitions and opera competitions. But they will not be as widely covered as the project on Channel One. This is more for myself,” Alakhyarov said.
He also noted that today he has 8 victories at International competitions, which in vocal terms are much more serious than the “Voice” project
Solo concert in Dagestan
According to the musician, at the moment there are many proposals to organize a solo concert in Dagestan, Chechnya and other republics. “I don’t want to do all this in a hurry. Most likely, this will not be in the next two to three months. A solo concert for me is a serious event. I have already begun to prepare and intend to approach this event very seriously. Alexander Borisovich also supports me in this regard,” said the vocalist.
He also noted that he plans to perform songs from Arno Babajanyan’s usual repertoire and his own songs, which he is currently recording. “It should be very interesting and at a high level. Most likely, it will be with an orchestra,” he added.
Support for young performers
Alakhyarov shared that now many people are contacting him with questions about participating in the “Voice” project. The winner of the competition provides advisory support and shares the necessary information.
Regarding material support for young talents, Selim Alakhyarov said: “I hope that I will reach a level where I can really support young talents financially. Because it took me a very long time to achieve this – 25 years of work, disappointment and everything else. There are a lot of talents in our republic. I would like to organize my own project here and support young performers. I hope there will be such an opportunity.”
Duet
When asked which of the living and departed performers he would like to sing with, Alakhyarov o,” the musician shared.
Family life
Alakhyarov admitted that he is not married yet. At the same time, he believes that creative life will interfere with family life. “A lot depends on the wife. I have seen couples like this where the wives fully supported their husbands. But female nature is designed in such a way that it needs attention. And after a certain time it manifests itself. Therefore, I can’t afford to get married yet, because I don’t even have enough time for myself,” he added.
About support
At the end of the press conference, Alakhyarov addressed everyone who showed interest in his creative life.
“I wanted to thank everyone who voted for me and supported me. I know there was cohesion. I repeat, this is our common victory. Everyone is involved in the fact that this cup is here now.
There were also people in my life without whom none of this would have happened. In particular, this is Yuri Vladimirovich Antonov, who returned me to the profession after my creative crisis. My parents, who have supported me over all these years and continue to support me. My friends.
I also want to thank Imam Muzamudinovich Yaraliev. At one time, he helped my family move from Derbent to Makhachkala. We lived in terrible conditions, as we were refugees from Chechnya. This man helped us move to the capital of the republic, where I began more serious development, after which I left for Moscow,” Alakhyarov said.
He also thanked the Enlightenment Foundation for supporting the Lezgi Ses competition, where he is the chairman of the organizing committee.
Personal life
Nothing is known about the marital status of Selim Alakhyarov. The pages on Instagram and VKontakte contain photos of Maxim’s parents, brother, nephews and cat, as well as footage from performances, meetings with friends, and events.
In addition to music, Selim received an education in management and production. The artist loves the work of Muslim Magomayev, as well as football, martial arts, extreme driving, and gives private vocal lessons.
Selim Alakhyarov and his mother
But the main place in life is still given to music: Selim participates in the “Voice of Victory” project, performs songs of the war years at events, and is a soloist of the Dagestan Philharmonic.
Alakhyarov is a Lezgin by nationality; the singer is regularly invited by Lezgin public organizations. Selim also cooperates with the permanent mission of Dagestan to the President of the Russian Federation. In 2015, the Moscow Center of Culture awarded him the medal “For Devotion to Dagestan.”
Participation in the show "The Voice"
The main event in Selim’s life was participation in the talent show “The Voice”. This program helped him become famous throughout Russia, and also gave him the opportunity to glorify his own homeland (the artist emphasizes how important this is to him). Although Alakhyarov had previously attracted the attention of music experts, it was only after participating in a television show that he received special public recognition.
At the blind audition, the man performed the song “Ferris Wheel.” He was previously aimed at collaborating with Alexander Gradsky. In the end, it was this mentor who chose him.
While participating in the show “The Voice”
He emphasized that he likes Selim’s singing, but he also hears inaccurate notes. The rest of the mentors did not choose the artist, but, as another mentor, Pelageya, explained, she did not respond only because she knew: Alakhyarov would not go to anyone other than Gradsky. It is Gradsky who specializes in pop singing and takes into his team people who also love him.
Under the guidance of his mentor, Selim went through all stages of the competition, changing singing partners. He performed songs not only in Russian, but also in English. At the same time, the participant’s singing in the second round especially touched both the audience and the mentors.
