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Atlanta Indian Idol has new champions for 2022

BY JYOTHSNA HEGDE

Atlanta, GA, December 2, 2022: New champions emerged from a wealth of Atlanta’s talented singers on November 13, 2022, at the Atlanta Indian Idol (AII) Championship presented by India American Cultural Association (IACA) at Duluth High School. Prithvi Bhorali who wowed the judges and the audience with his euphonious rendition of ‘O Meri Jaan’ from’ Life in a Metro’ secured his victory in the senior category. Lavanya Muni who stole everybody’s heart with ’Jag Ghumeya’ from the movie ‘Sultan’ in her dulcet voice, took home the crown in the Junior category.

Hon. Dr. Swati Kulkarni, CGI Atlanta, presided as the guest of honor. Fuzail Rafi, grandson of Mohammed Rafi, who was supposed to join her as the guest of honor was unable to attend. 

The championship round was the culmination of several qualifying rounds held through November 2022. Ten finalists each in both categories were selected from a total of 79 singers – 53 who auditioned in the senior category and 26 in the junior category. Charged with energy and melody, the almost five-hour long program included high-octane dance performances from students of acclaimed dance academies across Atlanta.

The championship engaged the audience and participants with judges who provided feedback and encouragement after each performance. Contestants were judged on various aspects of their performance including rhythm, diction, tonal quality and accuracy and overall mastery of style, among others.

An attractive feature included the Onsite SMS polling system by Text By Choice which allowed the audience to vote for their favorite singers by texting the first four letters of their names. Prithvi Bhorali, the champion in Senior category, also won the audience appreciation award in the senior category, while Aneesh Gosangari’s mellifluous rendition of the yesteryears’ classic ‘Kuhu Kuhu Bole Koyaliya’ from the movie ‘Suvarna Sundari’ earned him the audience appreciation award in the junior category.

Indrasish Chakraborty who sang ‘Roz Roz Ankhon’ from the movie ‘Jeeva’ secured first runner-up position and Bharath Pudi who sang ‘Main Agar Kahoon’ from the movie ‘Om Shanti Om’ was the second runner-up in the senior category .

Ananya Muni with her ‘Moh Moh Ke Dhaage’ from the movie ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ was the first runner up and Aneesh Gosangari was the second runner up in the junior category.

Dr. Raktim Sen, the program director of AII awarded Director’s choice awards to Monalisha Borgohain Saikia who sang Agar Tum Saath Ho from Tamasha in the senior category and Aashi Salim who sang Paan Khaye Saiya from Teesri Kasam in the Junior category. The award, as the title suggests were his picks for the evening.

The evening began with beautiful renditions of the national anthems of the USA and India by past Atlanta Indian Idol champions Anushka Chowdhury,  AII Junior Champion, 202, who sang the National Anthem of the USA, and Poulami Basu Thakur, Atlanta Indian Idol Senior Champion, 2021, who sang the National Anthem of India. The Judging panel included Dr. Kakali Bandyopadhyay, Sitar player, taught Indian Instrumental music at Emory University, Purnima Mathur, Founder and director, Malhaar Music Academy, Dr. Sheela Thomas, Singer by passion and Asawari Gadre-Joshi, Classical and light music vocalist.

Emcees for the evening Shaveta Jain, Mrs India International, Founder and co-Creative Director,  BeTheYou, delighted the audience with her grace and charm.

The energetic dance performances by students of DanceFlix Academy (Anusha), gracious Bollywood Fusion by NNKB ( Kumud Savla) and spirited Fusion by Naach Dance Academy (Sareena Nagpal) enhanced the Bollywood experience.

Atlanta Indian Idol, brainchild of IACA’s current President Chand Akkineni, founded by Chand Akkineni and Dr. Raktim Sen made its foray in 2013 opening to resounding success. “We wanted to create a platform to identify talented singers in Atlanta to promote and create visibility for their performances. IACA is glad to see Atlanta Indian Idol singers and winners become popular in the Atlanta Singers circuit. The performance of Junior singers, with exposure to western music, is exciting. Soon some of them will reach greater heights,” Akkineni said.

“Since it’s inaugural show in 2013, IACA Atlanta Indian Idol once again beat all expectations.
This year too, we had some very talented contestants, who stole the hearts of the cheering audience. Through the years, both our contestants and our audience continue to expect a high quality production from us. This year was no exception, as we were able to raise the bar by a few notches. Extremely gratified to see everything falling into place. My sincere thanks to all the sponsors, contestants, IACA organizers, the Atlanta Indian Idol Team and most of all, the audience, for their continued support for the past ten years,” Dr. Sen said.

“Excellent show transforming singers to performers, creating confidence and focus towards successful musical profession,” event Co-Chair, Dr. Anu Bhat said. Dr. Paddy Sharma,event co-chiar echoed similar sentiments – “One of the most talented young musicians participated . I am sure the judges had the most difficult time choosing the idol as each of them is worth getting the Idol title and the best singer title. One of the best evenings spent with lots of good music,” she said.

Akkineni thanked Gold Sponsor Om Duggal, silver sponsors Priya Rajan Misra, Dr. Paddy and Chandler Sharma, Kiran Anu and Subra Bhat Foundation, group silver sponsors Annuity Client Solutions, ALTA Wealth Management, Patrons, Rajesh and Pari Jyotishi of Insurancewala, ATG Tours, Tech Partner Nizar Bhojani, TextByChoice, Arvind Shukla of PhotoByArvind and Divinity AV, AV Partner.

The organizing team for the idol contest included Dr. Raktim Sen, Program director, Chand Akkineni, event co-chairs Dr. Paddy Sharma and Dr. Anu Bhat, Registration coordinators Vidya Prakash and Asawari Gadre-Joshi, Jyothsna Hegde, Media Director, Nicky and Deepak Bagdi, Hospitality, Rutuparna Joshi, Video and Graphics support, and Nizar Bhojani, SMS Polling Tech Support.

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1 comment

Lavanya Muni December 3, 2022 at 7:49 am

Thank you so much for this! 🙏🏽

– Lavanya

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