Saregama contestants enthral T&T audience

By SEETA PERSAD Wednesday, November 28 2007

AT precisely 8 pm on Saturday, TT's own singing idol singer, Mastana Bahar winner Pravana Maharaj took to the stage at Centre of Excellence to perform 'Lapat Japat Arey Bajarewa(Lapak jhapak tu aa re badarwa)''. He set the pace for a memorable evening with the winners of Zee TV's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.

However, the night belonged to Raja Hassan who thrilled the audience with his renditions of Bollywood hits. Raja, who placed second in India's biggest competition, sent the crowds in a frenzy when he did ''Tujhe Dek Dek Sona''. His powerful voice penetrated the hall and many were clapping and singing along.

Among the early acts were the Bogee Wogee dancers out of Mumbai, India, who did pop rock and film dances. Then came Mauli Dave with an interpretation of ''No entry''. She was followed by Harpreet Doel who gave a tremendous performance, singing hit after hit, much to the delight of their young TT fans who have been following the Zee TV competition on cable television. Harpreet, who is from Punjab, started with the chart topper "Chanavey Ghar Aja Rey", followed by "Bhegi Hota Rey(Bheege hont tere)", and "Sare Kay Nakay(Soni de nakhre)". The crowds erupted when he ended his stint with the old Bollywood tune "Aaj Mousam Hai Baraa".

Next on stage was the beautiful Sumedha Karmahee. She started off with "Baho Meh Dhar Diya(Bahon ke darmiyan?)", followed by "Jawani Janay Mann', and ended with 'Bedi Chamelay(Beedi Jalaile)".

Sa Re Ga Ma Pa winner Aneek Dhar came on stage at 10 pm and performned several of his winning songs much to the delight of the crowds.

At 11pm the youngest of the lot, Devakar Sharma 11, who was born blind, came on to sing a medley of the Bollywood tunes.

The singers left TT on Sunday for three shows in Miami and other shows in the UK before returning to India.

Promoter of the local event, Mahenadra Persad, said people were calling for more from the young stars but the show had to end at 1 am on Sunday morning. He said Zee TV stars are very popular in the western countries as they have been performing before sold out audiences in the US and the UK.

"It is amazing how these young people can hold the attention of the huge audiences with their songs," he said.

Persad said while none of them are playback singers they are able to deliver the Bollywood tunes as perfectly as the original singers.

http://www.newsday.co.tt/features/0,68843.html

PS: The author of the article has made some spelling mistakes in the songs mentioned above, so please bear with him/her😊. Please see my corrections in Red.