Report on Saregamapa Middle East from the Times of Oman
Here’s a report from the Times of Oman on the Saregamapa Middle East Pakistan 2008 Challenge which commences from Next Friday and has Raja Hasan in the host’s role.
MUSCAT - One of the most watched programmes in the region, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Middle East-Pakistan 2008, is set to begin a whole new and exciting round with participants from the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Pakistan. Known to boost the careers of participants, this year too, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Middle East-Pakistan 2008 will create some singing sensations and have the audiences rooted to their seats and participating in the show by voting for their favourite participants.
Catch the exciting episode that will take you through the auditions and the grooming of the participants on March 21, followed by the competition over the next 14 episodes. The creative team of Zee TV have travelled to the five countries for the auditions, and over the last three years since its inception in the region, have watched it have a phenomenal growth. Aspiring singers came in enthusiastically and performed their best.
Knowing that the show is truly dedicated to cultivating, nurturing and promoting only the best of talent, the quality of the singers is always worth talking about. This year 24 singers will take to the stage and in true Sa Re Ga Ma Pa style will have some memorable moments.
Having been selected, these participants are currently undergoing rigorous training, beginning with voice modulation and diction. This will set the platform for high standards this year.
Rajeev Kheror, head of programming, Zee TV, Middle East, said: “While voice quality is important, the mental strength to participate in such a highly watched competition needs to be extraordinary.
And over the past years, I has seen dedication and determination develop from strength to strength, which makes the programme absolutely viewer- friendly.”
Speaking about the programme this year, Manoj Mathew, vice-president (marketing and corporate communications), Real Media-Zee Network, said: “My personal involvement with Sa Re Ga Ma Pa has been there since its inception. It is with pride that I say this programme has grown and shown that the region has its own set of talented performers who have gone on to make a mark for themselves.
“This year’s auditions and grooming sessions are proof of the quality of singers that will enthrall the viewers.”
The new host, Raja Hasan, is no new comer to the show. He achieved his status as the first runners-up in the SRGMP World Challenge 2007 competition. He will lend his own enthusiasm and brilliant understanding of music to the show.
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First I really felt good to see a news from Muscat in this website.
Yes I saw this article in the newspaper today. But there are no other publicity happening here.. Believe me if I have not been following this site I will never have known that this show is happening in Dubai.
The saddest part is most of us here have not opted for this connection. We do not have cable network like in India. We have to have our own dish connections. Zee Middleeast comes along with many Arab channels which are in Arabic if I am not mistaken.
Here everybody is hooked on to the regular Zee, Sony, Sun etc which are same as the ones seen by everybody in India.
This is what I was afraid of having been to Dubai. Zee was available but the zee which we see here.
Such a waste of time for Raja!!!
Anyway hope the popular adage “all’s well that ends well” works in his favour. Inshallah.
We of course will do our best to make de taali a huge success.
hi ! i want 2 participate in sa re ga ma pa challange who is muscut … but iam from pakistan so how i participate in this show … ?
@padma,
What a waste for Raja. Hope to God something good will come out of it.
yes same here.
maybe he didnt have a choice unless he had broken off his contract with zee. and knowing raja, he wants to be on friendly terms with everybody so he would not have wanted to make controversial decisions not knowing who has how much clout in the circles that matter to him!!
it’s just not fair. First of all zee deprives him of the crown that he truly deserved and got, deprives him of the cash prize too, he gets zero money gains out of it and on top of that zee uses him much more than aneek since aneek is just not saleable!!!
so raja gets nothing in the bargain and zee laughs all the way to the bank.
I am so very disgusted!!! he should have broken off his contract immediately after the show ended so unfairly.
@padma
I know how u feel ! I feel disgusted and frustrated with the way channels use talent for their own ends !
And you are right, Raja would not want to be in anyone’s bad books right now…but god willing, he will be calling all the shots in a short while…!
Cheers to that !
yes cheers to that honestly.
i still believe that the good guy always wins in the end and that it is indeed kalyug.
@padma
I wonder if Raja himself worries about his career the way we do for him !!!!!!
hi all,
i was not able to visit the site from last 3-4 weeks as my exams were going but now i am free.now i have to go through all the news first.
they are again using our RAJA’S talent for publicity and to make their show once again a big hit like earlier they did and after that what they did with RAJA we all know.
Raja is going to benefit by the exposure. 2.5 months in Dubai is not too much of a time in one’s initial stages. He should use the media to get more and more popularity and he should keep reminding people of him through this medium of Television. I know it is not going to cover Indian and US people. Yet appearing on television as an anchor helps especially considering the fact people’s memory is short. That’s how an artist should look at this.
Yes, Murali, I think Raja would know best on what the situation is. If he doesn’t have a flood of singing offers and is just going to to do endless concerts in the three months, travelling from city to city, the job in Dubai is a much better option. And even if a singing offer still comes by, a flight to Mumbai doesn’t take too long.
@ N. Murali Mohan….. loved your intake on anchoring thing… I too firmly believe that Raja will surely benefit from this anchoring and should make full use of the media. I am so happy to read your positive comments. God bless you!! Amen!
and I am sorry for having been so negative.
I guess I was taking out my frustration on zee more than anything else.
anyway I still feel that Raja deserved exposure to a far wider audience.
U are right padma..
Raja deserved MORE (as usual) than what this unscrupulous channel has thrown at him !!!
God ! How can Zee forget WHO brought the maximum votes for the channel !!! And how can they keep him away from the limelight in India !???
He deserves prime time slot and he also deserves a lot more respect from this dirty channel !
Sorry if all this sounds negative, but my blood boils when I think of Zee and their neverending ill treatment to our Raja…
@Murali Mohan
If anything, this show might throw up a few more Amanats and Junaids who will walk away with some offers (if any !)
and Raja will have to pick up from where he left off all over again…
Sonu Nigam despite anchoring the popular SRGM for such a long time, still had to struggle to make it big in Bollywood…
I want to believe that this holds something good for Raja but I just dont know what that “good” is !
@ padma and kavitha………. I LOVE You Girls….
hang in there sweetheart… what happened to others will not happen to Raja… others did not had crazy websites and loyal fan following… the amount of fans that Raja has even many well established singers and music directors dont have… and we all together will make sure he stays in demand and the music directors and film makers will have to rush to him with their offers……………. as she said.. SATYAMAYVE JAYATHI!!
so hows weather? both of u send me ur picture to my email id… i am dieing to see u girls
“girls” raffu !?????? Padma im sure is a girl but me ….??!!!! Anyways thanks for including me in that “genre” …:))))))))
We all of course hope for nothing but the bestest of things for Raja…im taking the liberty of speaking for padma and others like us who are so very frustrated with all the dirty games played by the likes of zee and Himesh etc ! It is our anger against the ill treatment meted out to Raja that makes us say the things we do…!
And it is so typically Indian to accept things the way they are no matter how wierd they seem and how unjust !
What bothers me is that channels like Zee are increasingly becoming “magarmach” and God help those who try to even question their methods !!! Just see the way Ismail durbar and his proteges (amanat and poonam) have been sidelined !!!!
These power games and hooliganism is what irks the likes of me and padma…and its so sad that as a huge democratic nation, we have no collective voice to protest !!!!!!
Having said that, yes, Raja stands out from all others and Inshallah he will succeed despite all odds…!!!
And yes, ill send my pic to your mail ID, do give me your mail ID and do send me your pic to me…
have a nice holi and may Raja’s songs top the charts this year and always !!!!!!!!
Hahahahah..i just read what ive posted and realised the line “thanks for including me in that genre”..could be interpreted in different ways !!!!!!
Of course , i meant that Im not a girl anymore and am a woman…
hahahahaaaa
@ kavitha…. once said words cant be taken back… ha ha ha ha … but why r u thanking for calling u girls.. girls here in US are all females irrespective of their ages.. and my dear sweetheart, age is only a number… we will remain girls through out our lifes.
okay my email id is “raffuchakkar@gmail.com”
i will send u my pics too
well said raffu…
will send u my pic (actually dont have any thats even passable, but will try my best !)…
cheers !!!!
hey raffu ! must not u send me one too ?
me too is a girl just like kabitha…
@ urmee… give me ur email address and i will send u soon… and look forward to seeing ur pic too.. my email is “raffuchakkar@gmail.com”
lots of love to you,
Raffu