The much talked about show “L’il Champs” grabbed the eyeballs this weekend as the four-month-long search for a champion ended with Hemant Brijwasi being crowned the Little Champ. The Mathura boy beat a field of about 50,000 competitors, only 12 of whom made it to the final show. Judged by veterans Abhijeet Bhattacharya and Alka Yagnik the show was hosted by child anchors Afshan Mosani and Dhairya Sorecha. The 11-year-old Hemant hopes to follow in the footsteps of previous winners of “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs” who have been able to carve out a niche for themselves in the world of films and music.
The finals were attended by Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn and Asin with director Vipul Shah, who used the occasion to promote their film “London Dreams” releasing this Friday. The cast of the film felicitated the artistes with awards.
Matching views
Speaking about the winner Abhijeet said, “This is the first time that the judges views matched the audiences’ views. During the show I once called Hemant ‘Sir’ and Asha Ji praised his singing calling him as a versatile singer, he worked very hard after he got a re-entry through the wild card.” Alka Yagnik commented, “All the three singers are very good and if I was asked to select the winner it have taken me years to choose. I once said, Hemant is much ahead of this platform. There were times when the performance was good and votes secured were less, on such occasions we requested the audience with reasons”.
In the finals Hemant beat the challenge of Yatharth Rastogi from Bengal who secured 13,73,040 votes and Shreyasi from Kolkata who collected 11,38,380 votes. Hemant secured 15,35,380 votes. Hemant who is class VI student of Sant Brij Mohan Lal Junior High School, Mathura comes from a family of folk singers, his father Hukam Brijwasi sings Bhajans. On the big day at the Andheri sports club in Mumbai he enthralled the audiences with some melodious Bollywood numbers.
After winning the trophy Hemant said, “Abhijeet Sir and Alka Didi worked very hard with me and my parents were always there. After being eliminated I worked very hard, did nothing except singing.” The latest season of “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs” might be over but the show will go on as there are plans afoot to bring the best of participants of the past seasons who will be seen trying to outwit each other. The show starting 30th October is named “Sa Re Ga Ma Mega Challenge” will be a seven week affair between eight teams representing eight different states. Every week two teams will compete and the best four teams will head towards the semi-final thus concluding the finale on 12th December to the 1000th episode of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. Each episode will be graced by notable singers and musicians of the industry.
