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Sing for your supper!

Sing along Discover the hidden crooner in you

With the growing popularity of music reality shows, everyone is trying their hand at singing. The latest concept to hit the city is restaurants with karaoke, where the customers get an opportunity to sing their favourite songs with their choice of pr eferred food. And Sangeeth, a family restaurant at Padua, Nantoor, offers precisely this combination.

Restaurant Entertainment Manager Premanand says, “Karaoke restaurant was first started in Japan and is now popular in USA, Switzerland, England and Thailand. One of the reasons for the popularity of the concept is that music is universal. There is no better medium than an orchestra to build team spirit. Here, all you need is singing sense to become a singing sensation.”

The restaurant apart from food has a unique music menu with a list of over 1,000 songs in Hindi, English, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi and Bengali. There is a platform at the centre of the restaurant to sing along with karaoke system. The mike has a chip connected to the karaoke system and instructions on how to sing as the lyrics flash on the two television sets, thus enabling audience to sing along. Duets too can be sung. A computerised talent assessment system awards scores to the singer in the range of 0-100.

Premanand says customers include children, youngsters and elders. Old Hindi melodies are the most preferred, he says. The restaurant is a hit with college goers as well. The restaurant has plans to hold contests to promote music with judges to be picked from among customers.

Sujith, a regular customer and professional singer says that singing here has helped him fine tune his skills. He adds appreciation by fellow customers and interaction with the audience gives a great high.

Prasad, a first-time customer said: “I sing for an orchestra, but singing here is altogether a different experience.” Umesh, a waiter says: “We too try our hand at singing when there are not many customers. Moreover, I enjoy working in a musical atmosphere which keeps me cool and help offer quality service to the customers.

The name of the restaurant is inspired by a song from “Mission Kashmir”. True to the song, the ambience of the restaurant is totally musical. The photographs of famous singers like Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar and Sonu Nigam and slogans such as “Customer is king, king can sing”, “Bring out the singer in you” and “Sing with karaoke” adorn the walls of the restaurant to inspire customers.

This is a very cost-effective way of imparting music lesson to people. Moreover the musical environment helps customers relieve their stress and have some fun with food, concludes Premanand.

SUSHMA BARVATHAYA

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