Forget your weekly karaoke fix. The mother-of-all karaokes is in town to challenge all rookies
Forget your weekly karaoke fix. The mother-of-all karaokes is in town to challenge all rookies
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This contest is not going to be as simple as crooning into a mic and humming your favourite number. Nor is it a loud karaoke contest with cheesy numbers. This is the first time that India is going to be a part of a contest that is known as the Olympics of Karaoke contests. Competing against 35 other countries, India will be sending in the best karaoke duo who will fight it out in the world championship in Ireland. 
"We have conducted a nine city trail and four zonal finales will be held. Thousands of amateur singers from Bangalore auditioned for the city round and 45 good singers were shortlisted. Out of these, six have been chosen for the South Zone finale from Bangalore. This Thursday, they will be pitted against six finalists from Hyderabad," says KJ Subs, the official karaoke jockey for the event.
While the contest is being held only for amateur level singers, the judging panel wants to keep the competition really strict. "We are judging them on three aspects - voice, choice of song and on-stage performance. We have had a whole set of them who sang even Bollywood numbers but over all the singers who chose Western numbers were better. Although the event is for amateur singers, we do not want to keep it too casual. That is because this is the first time India will be presenting their best duo in this world championship. Also, we don't know who our chosen singers will be up against, so if we sugar coat it now, then they might have to face tougher competition abroad," points out city musician and one of the judges Rajiv Kumar.
The most interesting part of the auditions was that people from all age groups and backgrounds participated in it and many even received wild card entries. Vinay Gondhkar, a 19-year-old participant, who signed up for the auditions just 15 minutes before the counters closed, has now been adjudgedu00a0 Bangalore's best male voice. He is nervous and excited.
"I couldn't believe my ears when I heard that I've been shortlisted and to top it all, the fact that I was chosen as the best from Bangalore. My friends and family are excited and are backing me up. I still have not decided which song I will be singing in the zonal finale, but I have narrowed it down to two songs," says Vinay. Crooning the best romantic number in recent times that topped the charts for over five weeks, I'm Yours by Jason Mraz, Vinay surely has struck the right chords with the crowd and judges.
But Pratibha Parthasarathy, a marketing professional from the city, is not far behind. Having reached the venue for their weekly Karaoke routine, Pratibha and her friends were in for a surprise when the contest was announced. "I sang a Bollywood number for the first round and then sang Evanescence's My Immortal.
I received a wild card entry and was completely thrilled. There are lots of songs to choose from for the finale and I am going to have a huge cheering squad on the big day. Hopefully it will be a really fun event," says Pratibha.
Post the finale from all four zones, a grand India finale will be held in August. "One male and one female singer will be chosen from across the country and the duo will get an all expense paid trip to Ireland. This will be their chance to make India proud," adds KJ Subs.
Where Kyra Theatre, 100 Feet Road, Indiranagar
On July 27, 8 pm onwards
Call 9632203333
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