The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : City boy in finals of `Confidence Champ' contest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 26, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

City boy in finals of `Confidence Champ' contest

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: Kiran Pathakota, a 14-year-old boy from Bangalore, is one of the finalists of the Cadbury Bournvita Confidence Champion contest.

A mridangam player and artist, Kiran will battle it out with six finalists from other parts of the country for the Cadbury Bournvita Champion title.

He is a student of the National Academy of Learning in the city.

Apart from being an international-level percussionist, Kiran, a tenth standard student, has received a special award from President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

He was also invited by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to participate at the SAARC conference.

Kiran is the son of P.N. Satish, who also is a well-known mridangam and kanjira player.

The top six finalists were chosen from over one lakh students from across the country. The other finalists are: Diwakar Sharma, Sahaj Grover, Vignesh Chandrashekhar, Palak Muchhal and Tanmay Shah.

Diwakar, though visually impaired, is a prolific singer and has performed for President Kalam. Sahaj is the current under-10 World Youth Chess Champion.

Palak received the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement in singing in 2002. Tanmay is an international figure-skating champion.

Vignesh was selected by music director A.R. Rehman as the voice for the song "Yeh tara who tara har tara" in the movie "Swades".

The first of the seven final episodes of the contest that will be telecast on Sony Entertainment Television every Friday will zoom in on the Confidence Champions, who have excelled in academics and are achievers in their proven skills.

The judges for the shows are singer Kavita Krishnamurthy, violinist L. Subramaniam and actor Rohini Hattangadi.

At the end of seven episodes of the programme, the top four will be chosen, then top three and finally the top two.

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