MULTI-FACETED G.GANKHUU IN THE SPOTLIGHT

GGankhuu is a Mongolian entertainer, businessman, artist, and politician who is known for being the director of Khaan Broi Company, a member of the band Shar Airag, and for backpacking in over 100 countries. At the age of 51, he is now challenging himself to impersonate a different famous performer every week for the second season of the Mongolian adaptation of the talent show “Your Face Sounds Familiar”.

Learn more about G.Gankhuu’s career, his efforts for “Your Face Sounds Familiar”, his backpacking adventures, and more from the following interview.

What’s it like to leave the judges’ panel and become a contestant on “Your Face Sounds Familiar”?

It’s so much more fun and intense to go on stage. I guess it can’t be helped, since the environment is totally different. When I was a judge for the first season, I only had to watch the contestants’ performances for two hours once a week and share my opinions. But now, I have to prepare and rehearse all week.

You said that you would buy a bicycle for your son with the cash prize you won on the seventh episode of the show. Have you bought it yet?

I kept my promise and bought a bicycle for my son. My son was the one who was most happy about my victory. He’s my one and only biggest fan. Every time I left to shoot the show, he would tell me to win, at least once, because it was embarrassing that I hadn’t won at all. I think that his classmates and friends got under his skin, reminding him that his father hadn’t won at all.

You’ve been dieting and taking dance lessons for the show. Have you ever regretted your decision to go on the show?

Ever since I was a kid, I used to jump into whatever I thought was interesting. That personality made me want to challenge myself further and compete in “Your Face Sounds Familiar”. I had two reasons to participate in the show. The first reason was that I wanted to become one of the contestants, since I got to be one of the judges before. I wanted to experience the joy and frustration contestants feel while preparing for a performance.

Under my agreement with Education TV, I was supposed to judge the show for three years, but the production team was very enthusiastic about my decision to leave the judges’ panel and become a contestant. I believe that I will be able to judge more realistically and fairly next year, now that I’ve gained this experience.

My second reason was to prove that people my age are still alive and can do this sort of stuff, just like any other young contestant. I wanted to inspire those born in the 1960s, because “Your Face Sounds Familiar” is watched by people of all age groups. I started the second season with the motto “participating is more important than winning”, but I still became a winner.

Had you ever dressed as a woman and put on makeup before the show?

I’d never tried dressing up as a woman before. Starting from the makeup and manicure, there’s so much work. Walking in heels is so hard. Like the saying “beauty will save the world”, it takes so much effort and sacrifice to be beautiful.

You’re known as Businessman Gankhuu, Shar Airag’s Gankhuu, and Gankhuu who participated in the “Backpack Trip” television program. Would you say that you enjoy the attention?

It’s more fulfilling to be branded a title for what I do, rather than just being called by the name my parents gave me. At first, people recognized me as Khaan Broi’s Director Gankhuu, but now, they know me as one of the contestants of “Your Face Sounds Familiar”.

These nicknames contain precious memories of mine. The things I do attract attention, but I don’t do these things for fame.

Is it difficult to be the center of attention?

It’s not difficult. With more attention that I

get, I become more responsible and try to live a better life. Sometimes, it helps me get things done quickly – it’s the benefit I get from being well-known.

Apparently, you’ve been getting attention since second grade. Can you tell us about the band Durvun Ivan (Four Ivans) that you were a part of back then?

Zoya Ivanovna, a teacher at School No.23 in Ulaanbaatar, formed a band called Durvun Ivan, and I became one of the members. This is how I took my first step into the music industry. I didn’t have a relative who was involved in the music and arts industries. Durvun Ivan disbanded three years later. We had one hit song named after our band. The song was quite popular, and we used to be invited to play at various concerts back then.

At the time, the Ministry of Culture even gave us outfits to wear on stage.

Is it true that you studied fashion design in the Czech Republic? Can you talk about your student days?

Learning the Czech language wasn’t very hard, because I had graduated from a Russian high school. A foreign language competition used to be organized every year among over 1,000 students. I won that competition the year I went to the Czech Republic, and won a free trip to Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, where I stayed for two weeks.

During my sophomore year, I formed a band called Progress with my Czech friends, and became quite popular there. I guess the locals were fascinated by seeing an Asian guy with small eyes sing while Czech people played instruments. I used to travel a lot when I was a student. Mongolian embassies used to confiscate the passports of Mongolian students who went to Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Germany. But those who went to the Czech Republic were allowed to keep their passports, so I used to travel during every school break, and even engaged in trade. That experience probably pushed me to start a business of my own afterward.

From my observations, Mongolians who studied in the Czech Republic around the same time as me became successful businessmen. For example, there’s Batsaikhan of APU, Enkhbold of Chono, and Erdenebat of Petrovis. My final year of university was 1990, during the peaceful Mongolian democratic revolution, so to participate in the revolution and support my brothers, I used to distribute the newspaper Ardchilal (Democracy) to Mongolian students in the Czech Republic.

You’ve traveled around 106 countries with a single backpack. Which country was the hardest to travel in?

I was exhausted during my hike to Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. I climbed the mountain with six locals. I was at my limit and so tired, since I’d never hiked before. While climbing, I got altitude sickness, and at around 5,200 meters above sea level, I start getting a headache and nosebleed. The people I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with became anxious and tried to get me to go back down, but I felt like I didn’t have the right to give up then.

Why did you feel like that?

I felt like I was going to die, but I thought that I couldn’t return home and tell the sponsor of “Backpack Trip” that I didn’t keep my promise to put the flag with their logo up on the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. I gritted my teeth and continued to ascend the mountain, and when I reached the peak, I no longer felt the altitude sickness.

Did you become interested in hiking after that experience?

I didn’t become addicted to the sport – it was more like I got more competitive. Right after I descended, I got a certificate that congratulated me for becoming the first Mongolian to reach the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. But when I announced this to the Mongolian public, people told me that a mountaineer named Boldbaatar had already successfully climbed the mountain. So, I looked for a mountain that I could become the first Mongolian to climb, and that’s how I got hooked on hiking.

Is that why you decided to climb Antarc-

tica’s highest mountain, Vinson Massif?

That’s right. It rises 4,892 meters above sea level. While climbing, I got sick because there wasn’t any bacteria. Apparently, there’s an illness that you can get in a bacteria-free environment. Most mountaineers avoid trying to climb this mountain, because the traveling costs are high and it’s only possible to climb during a specific month.

What was the most difficult time in your life? How did you overcome it?

It was when my father passed away. Back then, we were an affluent family, because my father was the head of the central handyman services and my mother was the chairwoman of the Pharmacy Authority. Our life turned upside down with the loss of our father, and affected us both emotionally and financially.

When did you become a father yourself?

I have three children. My only daughter is 22 years old and I have two sons, aged two and 12. My eldest daughter was born in the Czech Republic, but I can’t say I raised her myself. My second child was born when I was really busy with work, because I had just opened Irish Pub. I felt quite strange, but I was excited when my wife and I were expecting our third child. I guess people become more emotional and softer as they grow older.

Do you plan to have another child?

I want to have another child when our youngest turns 10.

You once said that a person needs to keep learning until they die. Is there anything you want to learn now?

I want to become a better guitarist. I also want to learn another language. I can speak Russian, English, and Czech, but I’d like to learn another Asian language.

...I used to travel a lot when I was a student. Mongolian

embassies used to confiscate the passports of Mongolian students who went to Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Germany. But those who went to the Czech Repub

lic were allowed to keep their passports, so I used to travel during every school break, and even engaged in

trade...