Lakshmi Iyer
India Post News Service
FREMONT, CA: The finals of the FOG Idol singing competition were held on Sunday, August 19 at the Fremont ‘mela’ fairgrounds on the stage after the Parade.
The last event of the Festival of Globe (FOG) proved to be a fitting finale to the five-day long celebration of arts, culture and diversity. There were 23 contestants in all spread across 4 age groups: 5-8 years, 9-11 years, 12-17 years and 18+ years.
The judges were from diverse backgrounds and among them, had knowledge of Hindustani and Carnatic music, Bollywood oldies, recent hits and English pop songs. They were famous Bay Area singer and Hindustani classical instructor, Alka Bhatnagar Chair of FOG Idol; Kris Murthy Chair of FOG Development, veteran singers Nehal Raval and Lahar Dalal and Anita Karwal, one of the FOG Idol Coordinators. Ritu Khurana and Lakshmi Iyer (author) emceed the event.
In the 5-8 years group, the winners were:
Third – Akshaj Chavan; Song: “We Shall Overcome”
Second – Kaara Chavan; Song: “Can’t Stop the Feeling in My Bones”
First – Svara Shimpi; Song: “Lakdi ki kaathi”
9-11 years
Third – Shivika Srivastava; Song: “Lag ja gale” from the film, “Woh Kaun Thi”
Second – Saumya Anand; Song: “Main Kaun Hoon” from the film, “Secret Superstar”
First – Samvi Ranka; Song: “Kanha So Ja Zara” from the film, “Bahubali 2”
Last year’s winner, Shohini Chakraborty, was also in the fray. She sang, “Maahi ve Mohbda Sachiya Re” from the film, “Wajah Tum Ho” beautifully. The judges awarded her a special Public Choice Award.
12-17 years
Third – Akanksha Banerjee; Song: “Tumhi Bhalo…” Bengali song translated into English. Akanksha alternated between playing the trumpet and singing.
Second – Sangeet Barkataki; Song: “Sandese Aate Hain” from the film, “Border”
First – Tanya Gupta; Song: “I Love You” from the film, “Hare Rama Hare Krishna”
18+ years
Third – Gaurav Bhatnagar; Song: “Pehla Nasha” from the film, “Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar”
Second – Anushka Banerjee; Song: “Moh moh ke dhaage” from the film, “Dum lagaa ke hai sha”
First – Niraj Jani; Song: “Mera Rang de Basanti Chola” from the film, “The Legend of Bhagat Singh”
The other contestants in the fray were excellent, too. In the 18+ years category, Sai Sistla gave a bravura performance of “Jawan Jaaneman” from the film, “Namak Halal”, and Shilpa Thakur Singh rendered the difficult song, “Maahi Ve Mohbda Sachiya Re…” from the film, “Wajah Tum Ho”, in a beautiful manner. Both Sai and Shilpa, along with Gaurav Bhatnagar, the third place winner, participate in various karaoke events in the Bay Area.
Prathyusha Vijay in the 18+ category, who has studied music under her father, Shri Medavaram Vidyasagar, gave a notable performance. She sang the difficult Carnatic number, “Antha Niye ra…”, seated on the stage, complete with ‘taal’.
In the 12-17 category, Iha Bhardwaj sang, “Main phir bhi tujhko chahoongee” from the film, “Half Girlfriend” while her sister, Deeya Bhardwaj sang,
“Kaisi paheli zindagaani” from the film, “Parineeta”, while participating in the 9-11 category.
The latter category had some fine singers – Kaavya Patel, who sang, “Jag Ghoomeya Tera Jaise Nai Koi” from the film, “Sultan”, Soorya Ramaraju who performed a classical Carnatic devotional song, “Ekadanta Vakratundaaya” and Mishti Bhatia.
Spandana Joshi in the 12-17 category, performed a patriotic medley and Kamalesh Aravind Kumar and Devarsh Jani (son of winner Niraj Jani) competed in the 5-8 category, singing the patriotic “Jayathi Jayathi Bharat Mata” and “Jab Deep Jale Aana” from the film, “Chitchor”, respectively.
TV Asia covered the event live. FOG thanks TV Asia, Venky the videographer, Reena Rao and all the parents and participants, and judges for a successful event.
Local band, “Tattva” formed by Google employees, gave a thumping live performance of popular Hindi songs, thus rounding up the FOG ‘mela’ in style.
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