Uyghur actress Gulnazar from Xinjiang, China, faced ridicule in 2019 when she served as a presenter at the Korean music awards MAMA due to her poor English. Fast forward 5 years, she recently brought up this incident on a Chinese variety show called “Travel Through the Access All Areas” and admitted feeling extremely embarrassed.
Five years ago, Gulnazar was invited to attend the 2019 MAMA, the largest music event in Asia held in South Korea. She wore a stunning silver-white gown and was praised for having one of the best red carpet looks of the night. Alongside actor Lee Su-hyeok, she presented the award for “Best Female Solo Dance Performance” at MAMA. Gulnazar’s announcement of the winner, CHUNGHA, was delivered in a stiff and slow manner: “2019 Mnet Asia Music Awards Best Dance Performance Solo, CHUNGHA!” As she dragged out the final syllable and pronounced CHUNGHA’s name sounding like “qiong ha,” the audience was left dumbfounded, and even the actual winner couldn’t understand.
The clip of her awkward moment went viral in China, sparking discussions online and humorously dubbed as the “Qiong Ha Incident,” trending at the top of the search list.
After 5 years, on the recent episode of “Travel Through the Access All Areas” on Hunan TV, Gulnazar revisited the embarrassing incident. She candidly expressed, “Although this joke is in the past now, at that time, I felt truly ashamed, especially during that ‘Qiong Ha’ moment. I felt so embarrassed. I didn’t feel anything on stage at that moment, but afterwards, seeing it trending, I felt so embarrassed that I didn’t want to go back to the production team.”
At 32 years old, Gulnazar was discovered as a model on the streets at 16 before attending the Beijing Film Academy’s acting department in 2011. She entered the entertainment industry by starring in historical dramas like “Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Scar of Sky” with Hu Ge and Liu Shishi. Being part of the group known as the “Four Beauties of Xinjiang,” along with Tong Liya, Dilraba, and Madina, in recent years, she has gained attention not only as an actress but also for her appearances on various reality shows, where every move she makes is closely followed.