MUMBAI: International karaoke event, ‘McDowell’s No 1 Karaoke World Championship’ is back in its second year,scheduled to be held in Finland in November.
This year the auditions for the competition have extended to over 15 cities and 30 venues, culminating in September. The winners stand a chance to bag prizes worth Rs 18 lakhs with one male and female winner getting opportunity to win an all expense paid trip to Finland along with their group of friends.
The Karaoke World Championships are conducted annually, drawing participation globally to battle for the world championship title. The member countries conduct local and national karaoke competitions and send winners to participate in the Karaoke World Championships (KWC).
The auditions will kick off with select outlets hosting over 150 venue trials across 15 Indian cities including NCR, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Shillong, Jaipur, Guwahati, Patna, Indore, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Goa. Winners of the venue trials will participate in the finals which will culminate with the zonal finals. The grand finale in India will be held in the first week of October. The Indian winners also stand a chance to record an album exclusively for Planet M.
Instrumental in the Karaoke face change of India since 2002, legendary KJ Savio D’Sa said, “The unique aspect of KWC is that unlike a reality show, there are no live cameras to add to the nervousness of contestants. Only at a Karaoke Night will you see strangers pop up on the mic to sing their favourite song. This symbolizes fun, friendship, confidence and sheer delight. The most remarkable feature of karaoke is that the unpolished and the wildest singers get the loudest round of applause. KWC hopes to get even more wicked, wackier and wilder this year expecting such raw talent.”
The competition in association with Nokia Lumia, will also have a solo and McDowell’s No. 1 Karaoke Friendzy Round which gives a chance to a group of friends to accompany the ultimate winners to Finland. The participants will be judged by singer Meiyang Chang along with a host of local judges across the various cities.
The company has also recently appointed new brand ambassadors - bollywood actor & director Farhan Akhtar, actor & VJ Purab Kohli, VJ & actor Cyrus Sahukar and Chang who are actively involved in the Championship. The event has been strategized and executed by Nash Events.
Nash Events director Lalit Kewalramani said, “Local Karaoke competitions feature regularly in various clubs in India but this is unique in itself as it has a credibility of its own. This is the epitome and is like a World Cup for Karaoke. Sponsors like McDowell No. 1 Soda, Nokia and Visit Finland showed an immediate interest in this fantastic event, which offers fun, music and interesting nightlife. We have created a foundation for the event last year and this year it has only grown in size and stature.”