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Voices of victory

ON TOP OF THE WORLD Winners with the judges

Holding each other’s hands, Shakthisree and Sunanditha wait on stage for the results to be declared. Prizes for a few other titles are being given away but their names are not announced. Feeling a tad embarrassed Shakthisree suggests that they go off stage for a while and return later. Just as they do so, VJ Craig calls them back on stage to announce that one of the two girls is the winner. And, after a moment of suspense, Shakthisree is declared winner of the Nokia Xpress Music Voice Hunt organised by SS Music.

“I was thrilled when they announced my name and almost felt like jumping about,” said 19-year-old Shakthisree.G, a B.Arch student of the School of Architecture and Planning, Anna University.

Looking no less elated than the winner, 20-year-old Sunanditha, runner up for the title, said, “All of us (the finalists) were good. It didn’t matter who won because we had all become good friends and would have been happy for each other,” said Sunanditha. Both the girls are Carnatic vocalists and have been practising for more than a decade now. They claim that the win has given them a new level of confidence.

This year’s Voice Hunt kick-started with about 1,200 aspirants registering. Through an elimination process 10 finalists were selected to woo the judges at the grand finale which took place on July 19 at Kalaivanar Arangam. The finalists crooned and swayed under the watchful eyes of judges Suresh Peters, Naresh Iyer and Jeffrey Vardon.

Shakthisree floored the panel with ‘Mayya Mayya’ from “Guru” and ‘Walk Away’ by Kelly Clarkson, while Sunanditha sang ‘Rahmatulla’ from “Ghajini” and ‘Let’s Get Loud’ by Jennifer Lopez.

Prior to the finals, the last 10 standing had to go through four rounds and with each passing round bettered their performance, thanks to the pruning sessions.

Suresh Peters who had been involved with the participants from the very first elimination round was amazed at the talent discovered at the competition. “The raw talent, witnessed in the quarter finals, was further honed with special inputs on choreography, stage presence and makeover. The finalists were an awesome bunch and have the potential to make waves in the field of music in India,” he added.

Like most girls, Shakthisree and Sunanditha were excited about their makeover too. “I got to colour my hair,” said a giggling Sakthisree. And Sunanditha had to make a sacrifice by having to chop off her long tresses. “I miss my long hair but I love my new layered cut too,” she said excitedly, going on to add that her parents would otherwise never let her lop off her hair.

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