Antara,Amey,Panna,and Meenal

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Amey Date's life has revolved around music for the last 15 years since the time he accepted the tutelage of Suresh Wadkar. He was then five years old and was inspired by his mother and his elder sister (who has also learnt classical music) to sing on stage.

Since that time, Amey went on to, first, learn music himself and then teach the same to young aspiring kids who come to Suresh Wadkar's training academy in Mumbai.

Amey was not pushed into music by his mother. Music runs in Amey's blood as his grandfather was a part of the orchestra that performed with RD Burman in his stage shows all over the world. Amey has also learnt to play the harmonium, the tabla and the sarod and has been, for the last seven years, performing on stage with Suresh Wadkar, OP Nayyar and Usha Mangeshkar.

With all the experience of performing with stalwarts of the music industry and a determination to make a name for himself in the music field, Amey decided to participate in Indian Idol 2 and is confident that he will be amongst the top few contenders for the title.

"There is no doubt that Indian Idol is a singing talent show. But luck plays a major factor, especially in the gala rounds. I am praying everyday to God that luck be in my favour this time. I am working really hard to prepare for the contest, which isn't going to be easy".

He is a fan of Mohd. Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle and Kishore Kumar, besides his guru Suresh Wadkar. Amey loves sea food and watches Discovery Channel to unwind himself at the end of the day.

Panna Gill

Panna Gill's inspiration for music is his own father Lakhbir Singh, who is a renowned devotional singer. Panna's interest in music blossomed at the age of 13 and since then all he has thought about is a career in music. After completing Class XII, he decided to focus fully on the love of his life.

A disciple of Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Panna loves all kinds of songs.

"I love all kinds of songs which soothe my ears and mind. There are just seven notes in music and every kind of sound is based on them. No one cannot say that dance music is bad or western music is not ours. For me anything that appeals to my soul is good music". This is also the reason why Panna says he never has favourites. "Whatever I will sing right now is my favourite at this time. I cannot pinpoint and pick up songs".

Sonu Nigam is his inspiration: Panna idolises him and wants to be like him.

"He is a perfect artist and performer. He is not only a great singer, but also a very good-looking personality who looks dashing when on stage. I want to be a complete package like he is," says Panna, who spends a lot of time at the gym, which is as well because he loves eating good food with his family and friends.

Meenal Jain

Meenal Jain has always lived life on her own terms. When she was 11 years old, her elder sister, a trained classical dancer, was practicing to a song 'Piya Tohse Naine Laga Re'.

The song caught the attention of young Meenal so much that she wouldn't stop singing it and was even invited on stage by composer Ravindra Jain who had come to as a chief guest at her sister's show. A few words of appreciation from Ravindra Jain and Meenal knew what she would aspire for in life.

With the intention to become a singer, at the age of 11, Meenal urged her parents to allow her to enter Suresh Wadkar's training institute in Mumbai where music was taught in the guru-shishiya tradition.

But after three months of rigorous training here, Meenal couldn't take it any longer. She was so homesick that she had to leave the institute and go back to Indore.

But life was not going to be easy for her then. She felt so miserable on committing, what she considers, the biggest mistake of her life. She came back to Mumbai in three days flat but didn't go back to the institute. Instead, she started learning music on her own from different people whilst completing her studies too.

An extrovert by nature, Meenal aims to make a new friend everyday. In her free time, she listens to Asha Bhonsle, adores Sunidhi Chauhan and dreams of Bryan Adams. Sometimes she also finds herself playing a game of basketball or badminton, depending on her mood.

For Meenal Jain, Indian Idol is an opportunity to gain popularity, something that she has always dreamt about. She wants to be known the world over with people admiring her. But this dream girl also knows that the road to Indian Idol isn't too easy. So she is spending most of her time practicing for each big day, as she sails through the competition.

Antara Mitra

Antara Mitra grew up with music: Her father is a music teacher. Since the age of three, Antara would sing along with other children who came home to learn music from her father.

But this didn't mean that Antara didn't consider other career options. At one time, she was keen on taking up medicine but gave up the thought on discovering the high fees for the course. Today she aims to be a singer, if not a music teacher or a professor, like her father.

A fun-loving and straightforward girl, Antara is a confident performer, something that even Farah Khan accepted during the theatre round. An admirer of Asha Bhonsle, Alka Yagnik, Kishore Kumar, Sonu Nigam and Jagjit Singh, Antara hopes that some day, someone will take her name in the same league.

Antara's Indian Idol journey has been quite smooth. She has received appreciation from all quarters and is determined to at least make it to the final 12. A lover of classic novels and a big fan of sleeping, Antara aims to awaken her destiny with Indian Idol!