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'Indian Idol' unites northeast, all root for Amit Paul
Shillong, Aug 30 (IANS) From politicians to actors, people from all streams of life in the northeast are rooting for Shillong singing sensation Amit Paul to make him the next 'Indian Idol' in a much-watched reality television contest.

The 24-year-old singer is now in the top five of the highly-rated 'Indian Idol' musical show on Sony TV where one contestant is eliminated based on the least number of votes received on SMS or through phone calls.

Leading the bandwagon for supporting Amit is Meghalaya Chief Minister D.D. Lapang.

'We have conferred him the honorary title of Meghalaya's 'Brand Ambassador' to foster peace, communal harmony, and excellence,' the chief minister told IANS.

Lapang on Wednesday participated at a function here - organised by music lovers and several socio cultural groups - to drum up support for Amit.

'We are all proud of Amit for the success and fame he has attained so far. His achievements have helped people from all walks of life and communities to come together, and this aspect clearly reflects that music has no cultural barriers,' the chief minister said.

Giant hoardings and posters with Amit's photographs have sprung up across Meghalaya asking people to vote for him.

'There is a frenzy all over the place with the catchword now being Amit and only Amit. Some members of his fan club have opened a free telephone booth for people to vote for him, while an Internet cafe has also been set up exclusively to vote for Amit,' said K. Mawlong, a local singer.

Amit fever is also catching up in adjoining Assam with at least a dozen of the state's leading actors and singers organising a street campaign to garner votes for the Shillong youth.

'Amit is the pride of the northeast and we should all rise to the occasion and vote for him,' said Munin Baruah, a noted Assamese filmmaker.

Amit has been into singing since his childhood and had quit studies to pursue a career in singing - he can sing in six languages making him the darling of the 'Indian Idol' judges.

Another youth from Assam, 29-year old Debojit Saha, had earlier won Zee TV's 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005' earning him the coveted title 'India's Voice'.

SHILLONG [TST] : Singing sensation Amit Paul, who is in hot pursuit of the coveted Indian Idol little, seems to be trailing where it matters most - voting.

According to reports reaching here from Mumbai, despite his highly impressive performance in all the recent episodes of the contest hosted by Sony TV, Amit now runs the risk of being shown the door for no fault of his. Owing to inadequate support from fans, Amit is lagging behind Prashant Tamang of Darjeeling by a whopping three lakh votes.

Meghalaya's low key response, coupled with lack of effort to drum up public support are said to the prime reasons for this gap.

The Nepali-speaking cop, Prashant is said to have a better network of fans and added to this, his police background has helped his cause appreciably.

Informed sources said that Amit can easily catch up with Prashant, if a wave of awareness of voting is created not only in the State, but across the Northeastern Sister states, through initiatives of fans and well -wishers.

Some local fans have been making sporadic attempts at rousing the people. Last week some of them returned to book support for Amit in Assam's Barak Valley. At Silchar a Press Conference was held, followed by a rally taken out in the busy thoroughfares of the town and all this for the cause of garnering support for Amit. Although the frenzy witnessed last year, when Silchar's own Debojit Saha won the "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa contest", is missing, effort seems to have had salutary effect.

On Thursday Debojit called up The Shillong Times office to appeal to the people for backing up Amit. "I think he is capable of becoming Indian Idol, all he needs is people's support."

Calling from Kolkata where he is camping for cutting a new disc, Debojit informed that he would be in Guwahati soon for show and would seize the opportunity to canvass for Amit.

There are many ardent fans of Amit in Shillong who are of the view that before long a vigorous public participatory programme should be drawn up to garner support for Amit. The question is who will take the lead?



TST:- The Shillong Times.