Taking competition to reality television shows, Radio Mirchi has tied up with premier Indian rock band Agnee for the first of its kind nationwide radio reality show, Generation A-Star Mirchi Create with Agnee, to hunt for singing talent . Says Shamik Talukder, Senior Vice President, Radio Mirchi, “Everything is live in this show… no cuts, no processing, no editing, no retakes. Nothing like the TV reality shows! Here everything is real. The participants perform in front of you.” The campaign was flagged off in Mumbai and the Delhi city finale of the show was held at the New Delhi's Hardrock Café recently.
The show is divided into three phases. After the screening in seven cities – Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, New Delhi, Ahmedabad and Pune, 40 contestants were chosen from each city by Radio Mirchi's RJs. Then Agnee toured these cities to shortlist four most promising participants , who are now competing in the second phase, the City Finale. One contestant would be selected through remote auditioning. The eight selected singers will then compete in the grand finale to be held on July 10 in Mumbai. Said Mohan, the lead singer of Agnee band, “India has been a country of singers. We want to discover real talented performers and gift them to India. TV is into business so we went for radio. With its largecoverage area , we hoped to reach even the remotest areas and we have been successful to a great extent. We want to get involved directly with the people.”
The winners, one male and one female, will be groomed and honed by the band and would get to record and sing live with the band. They (winners) will also get an opportunity to sing in a playback score composed by Agnee for a forthcoming Bollywood film Gulabi Gang. Manvi Gupta, winner of the Delhi city finale, who mesmerised the gathering singing the hit Agnee song “Kaisey ho tum” said, “It feels like all of a sudden I got the chance to be on top.” Hailing from Jammu and a doctor by profession, Manvi says that singing has been her passion since childhood and that her parents have always supported her in chasing her dreams. “I hope not to let down the faith that the people have shown in me and the support they have lent me.” The runner-ups were Lakshay Nijhawan, a commercial pilot from New Delhi and Bikram Singh Kalikopay who also performed outstandingly well. Said Mohan, “It was very difficult choosing the winner, Delhi is very energetic… full of talent”.
Said Talukder about the show, “We have always tried to keep our listeners hamesha khush (always happy), Now, you don't just listen to music, but you can also be a part of it!”
