Ms. P Jairath and Raju Bankapur
CHICAGO: Chicago Indian Icon (CII) triggered huge excitement and interest among hidden talents in the Indian community in Chicgoland staging the first of its type Karaoke Competition for Bollywood songs.
Launched by the Chicago-based company Indian Event Management Inc (IEM), the CII held its first of the three auditions at the prestigious Ashyana Banquets in Downers Grove on May 19.
The response, to say the least, was overwhelming and exceeded the expectations of the organizers, with singers seeking registration close on heels of the program announcement, continued on line inquiries and in person line up before the start
Participants aged 7 to 71 regaled the jam-packed audience all through the 8-hour organized audition with their performances. Young Sutikshna Veeravalli attracted repeated standing ovations not only from the audience, but also from the judges. Equally favorites were 7-year old Senria Nath from Wisconsin and Abhijeet Joshi.
Participants competed in Solo, Duet or Group Song categories. More than 2000 people watched CII-2013 1st Audition live over internet, which was way above expectation.
Brij Sharma, the president of IEM, introduced a four member executive committee, the founders Sharan Walia, Vice president Pratibha Jairath, Direcotr Raju and Anoop Walia. “We are a team although with different backgrounds and we are determined to take this program nationwide to New York, Los Angles, Atlanta, San Francisco, Denver etc. almost 10 US cities with Indian population more than 100,000 to achieve the goal of launching Indian American Icon in the near future,” he said
Noteworthy was the panel of highly qualified and accomplished judges drawn from within the community. They included: Vaishali Dhande, Shivana Bangar, Hitesh Master, Meenu Purshotam, and Richard Christian. Even the awesome MCs – Chinmayi Bhatt and TV personality Saurine Thakkar – were wonderful exercising excellent control over the proceedings.
The program started against an imposing backdrop beautifully set up stage. In fact, the entire Ashyana Banquet wore a ceremonial look. The glittering set-up and décor was presented by Bhavna Taneja the art director of Diva Design. Chann Pardesi, IEM’s sole Radio Media partners helped throughout the process. The event reflected high organizing standards. The glamour, well dressed volunteers’ poise, the glittering stage, sumptuous lunch and supper, and freedom of movement – all made the CII look regal.
The spicing up came from Ms Gurmeet, Dance Director of Dancing Petals presented two scintillating Kathak performances that left the audience spellbound and wanting for more. “It is dream come true for our team and in what a beautiful magnanimous way!” said Pratibha Jairath, who is a cultural brand name in her own right and has been advocating the need for CII for many years.
“The singers are being evaluated by such qualified judges and the judges can guide the participants to improve their singing'” observed Raju Bankapur, a popular and famous singer of Chicagoland. “We will try to see that the winners have an opportunity to sing with Bollywood stars one day”, he added
Overall, of the three auditions, 54 contestants will be selected for the semi-finals. Of these 27 will reach the finals. The Chicago Indian Icon will be selected on 21 September Grand Finale in Meadows Club. All performances will be streamed live. Provision for Audience poll and online voting has been made. Uniform judging criterion has been formulated.
The enormous success of this event has encouraged IEM to move forward with confidence. Sharan Walia said this is, in fact, Chicago’s local solution of the global standards. To a keen eye, the CII is Chicago’s Sa Re Ga Ma in the making. Anoop Walia, director of Public Relations and Business Operations said that IEM will be organizing different types of reality shows – dance competitions, fashion shows, Indian festivals and the New Year Eve celebrations
At the event Brij announced IEM’s New Year 2014 at Ashyana Banquets.
Ramesh Soparawala & Asian Media USA
Thank You For Your Vote!
Sorry You have Already Voted!
