Uzbek migrant worker hits YouTube with Indian song
Published 09 June, 2009, 10:52
Baimurat Allaberiyev has been dubbed Russia’s Susan Boyle. Also known as Jimmy, the supermarket worker from the Moscow region has become a sensation on YouTube, singing a track from Bollywood’s “Disco Dancer”.
At a gig at one of Moscow’s hippest nightclubs, Jimmy looks like a DJ from Goa or Koh Phangan, but his origins are far less romantic.
An ethnic Uzbek, Baimurat Allaberiyev makes his living stacking supermarket shelves. By day he works in a mall in a provincial town near Moscow, but even at work Baimurat cannot resist what his soul desires most – singing.
Baimurat became an Internet star the moment one of his roommates uploaded his video on YouTube.
Many then voted for Jimmy partly out of pity, as the video clearly shows that coworkers are laughing at the small man.
All this very much resembles the story of another emerging star – Susan Boyle, the Scotswoman who caused a sensation as a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent.
Tenor Jimmy still has a long way to go to repeat Susan Boyle’s success. His biggest dream now is very down-to earth:
“The only thing I want now is a synthesizer. If only I had a Yamaha I could sing any song, because the bucket doesn’t let me show all my worth.”
Regardless, Jimmy’s early fans don’t seem to mind the guy plays on a bucket.
In fact, Jimmy has one more dream: he now collects money for tooth implants – after a racially motivated attack knocked out his two front teeth. Jimmy thinks his crooked smile could prevent him from making the big time in showbiz.
“As for the police… no, they don’t target me. When they see me on the street they cry out – oh, that is Jimmy! Sing something for us!” Baimurat says.
The mass media is now keeping a close eye on the man. Russian and Polish TV channels have already put Jimmy on the broadcast map. Several producers are interested in a contract, but Jimmy's friends, who still share the same room with the emerging star, say money will not change their friend's big heart.
Although Jimmy's only instrument is a five-dollar bucket and his only video recorded via a mobile phone, he’s refusing to give up. He says his real name in Uzbek means ‘rich man’, so wealth is only a matter of time.
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