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Doha, Sep 27: Young, enchanting, up and coming Sana Britto Kemmannu/Thotam  and Qatar’s Rock Star Harry Correa are now just a step away from being crowned as the Best Male and Female singers of Mangalorean origin in the Middle East.

The evening hosted by Mangalore Cultural Association (MCA) began with the playing of MCA anthem after a brief introduction by Alfre Cyril Crasta. This was followed by a presentation that took to the audience through the memory lane and into the history of Gulf of Voice of Mangalore as the theme song of GVOM of played in the background. Alfred Crasta then invited the MCA president Arthur Pais, vice-president Jason Quadros as well as the Advisory committee members Felix Lobo and Wilfred Fernandes to escort the contestants, jury and compere of the evening top the dais. The judges of the evening Fr Stany Tauo, Dr Prashanth Raj and Ashith Pinto then were introduced to the gathering by Alfred and mark sheets were handed over to them. The contest started with the entry of Konkani’s ace compere CGS Taccode to the stage. CGS has been renowned for his witty yet unique brand of compering which often has ‘tadka’ of ‘desi’ humour and pun in Mangalore and abroad.

As Konkani’s ace compere CGS Taccode announced the name of the winners of the semi-finals of the Gulf Voice of Mangalore-4, the unusually calm audience at the Al Ghazal Club, burst into applause, hailing the toppers. It was a nail-biting, neck-to-neck contest that kept the audience guessing throughout as the pendulum swung from one to another constantly as Qatar’s Top-13 came up with sterling performance outweighing each other.

Finally it was Sana Britto, Qatar’s young singing sensation, who had also made it to the finals of SOAD-3 International couple of years ago and Harry Correa, a live-wire performer and owner of sonorous voice, who overcame their opponents and got the coveted ticket to the grand finals to be held at Oman on November 7.
It was indeed a gruelling two-round contest wherein only the best performance could send two of the semi-finalists to the finals of the Greatest Konkani Reality show of the Middle East, the Gulf Voice of Mangalore-4. Going by the judges and the reactions of the gathering, the contest was indeed tough as all the contestants performed exceedingly well, making it tough to the judges to choose the best. But judges were up to the task and the end result clearly indicated that. Konkani’s golden voice Dr Prashanth Raj, composer and musician of great acclaim Fr Stany Tauro and ace base guitarist Ashith Pinto who were specially flown in as judges for the semi-finals from Mangalore did justice to their job as their wealth of experience in Konkani music helped them to select two best voices of Qatar.

The evening’s first performer Eva Wilma Pinto provided perfect beginning to the musical fiesta with the rendition of ‘Konkani Urovyan’, a beautiful composition by Vincent Fernandes, sung originally by Asha Fernandes. She was followed by Qatar’s popular and melodious singer Nina Fernandes. Nina’s strength has been her flawless singing and melodious voice. She did not disappoint the audience who have seen her perform consistently well over the years, with the wonderful rendition of ‘Chali Thi Jallchi Vaat’’, a well-acclaimed composition of Yodelling King Melwyn Peris which is originally sung by incomparable Reena Goveas nee D’Souza.

Sana Britto is surely a young sensation, a great star in the making. Her amazing voice and great singing skills, honed with continuous efforts, were in full display as she presented ‘Fondar Tujea’, an emotional number composed by Alwyn Noronha. Pramila Monteiro is another sweet voice from Qatar and her choice of song ‘Chali Komal Chali Moval’ from Rony Crasta’s maiden musical album Mevisa and sung originally by Shilpa Cutinha, was well-acclaimed by the audience.

Jovita Pereira, a GVOM semi-finalist in season 2 & 3, raised the bar by several notches as she belted out ‘Chilipili Suknneano’, a master composition of the late Wilfy Rebimbus. The last contestant in the female category was Karen Correa, the dark horse of the evening. She delivered one of the best performances of the evening with the rendition of ‘Tunch Eklo’, penned by Lloyd Rego Taccode and sung by Meera Crasta for former’s music album ‘Chanda Re’.

The performances by all the female contestants was of such high standards that audience was left stunned in sheer appreciation of the perfect blend of melodious singing and equally matching performance by each one of the contestants. For sure judges had difficult time is selecting the best one. It was also heralding of what was in store when contest would start for the male semi-finalists. And no one was disappointed as Qatar’s Top-7 male voices dished out a wonderful performance through their superlative singing.

First on stage was young Fredwin D’Souza who took Qatar by storm through his super performance at the GVOM preliminaries. A lot was expected of him and he lived up to these expectations as he rendered ‘Mana Ye Mojha Mana, a classic composition by Konkani’s showman, the late ‘Mic Max’ and sung by Dr Prashanth Raj. ‘Do Re Me Fa Sol’, composed and sung my Melwyn Peris was the choice of the next contestant Christon D’Souza, another young, up and coming singer. He was the surprise package of the evening and his sweet voice surely did justice to the song and weight to his overall performance.

Next on stage was Remy D’Souza, the melody king of Qatar. His voice quality often leaves the audience in daze and his performance today was not an exception either. As he belted out ‘Nach Bhangra’, a popular and creative composition by Roshan D’Souza and Lloyd Rego, sung by Nitin, the full-house audience in Al Ghazal Club applauded his performance with a thunderous applause. Alphone D’Silva whose voice has a close resemblance with the late Jerome D’Souza, is a top-class singer of Qatar. His rendition of ‘Ambor Pikya Moga Khinnan’, originally rendered by Konkani’s Golden Boy Rony D’Cunha, was the highlight of the evening. And Alphonse with his superb rendition left the audience speechless.

Harry Correa is often referred as the Rock Star of Mangalorean community in Qatar for his wonderful singing and superb presentation skills. He presented another facet of his talent with the rendition of ‘Mumma’, an emotional number from Arthur Pereira’s recent musical album ‘Hello Deva’. It was surely one of the best performances of the evening that cemented Harry’s entry in the GVOM finals. The last of the contestants was Naveen D’Souza, a dark horse in the male category. His choice of song was ‘Vhodtant Fulyant’ composed by Roopesh D’Souza for the album ‘Dream Girl’ and sung by Dr Prashanth Raj. Naveen came up with a sterling performance and his deep, sonorous voice came in for special appreciation from the jury.

This was the first round and the judges were to select Best-3 in each category for the second round. It was Sana Britto, Jovita Pereira and Karen Correa who came up triumphant in female category while Christon, Alphonse and Harry topped the male contingent. While in the first round, singers were allowed to sing a song of their choice, the second round was more challenging as the Top-3 had to sing a song given by the organizers. It was ‘Kogull Gayta’ song for the female and ‘Haanv Eik Sopnneli’ for the male. Again all the 6 contestants came up with the brilliant performance knowing well that their fortunes of entering the finals depended on this round. It was indeed superlative performance as margin of error decreased and contestants put their best foot forward to impress the jury.

Qatar’s famed band Singing Birds led by Lathif provided the music for the semi-finals. Joswin Pinto, a well-known lead guitarist from Mangalore was flown in specially from Mangalore for the contest directed the music.

Once the contest was over, a short stage programme was held wherein MCA Konkani Kala Puraskar-2014 was awarded. Captain Ramanan Ravi Kumar, the defence advisory at the Indian Embassy, Qatar, was the chief guest of the evening. He was escorted to the stage by MCA president Arthur Pais, vice-president Jason Quadros and advisors Felix Lobo and Wilfred Fernandes. Alfred Crasta introduced Captain Ravi Kumar to gathering before Arthur Pais delivered the keynote address.

Then the much-awaited MCA Kala Puraskar 2014 that consist of citation, memento and a cash amount of Rs 1 lac was presented to popular Konkani, Tulu and Kannada playwright, novelist and social activist Catherine Rodrigues, Katpady. Despite her stupendous achievements in the literary field for over 35 years in 3 languages, Catherine was stayed away from publicity. But MCA did a yeoman’s job in recognizing her talent and awarding her with the coveted MCA Kala Puraskar-2014. Chief Guest of the evening Capt Ravi Kumar presented her with the prestigious award after Clement Saldanha read the citation. In her acknowledgement speech, Catherine thanked MCA for choosing for the award and also all those who have supported her throughout her literary career.

MCA had for the first time organized Konkani poetry competition for poets residing in Qatar. The poems were judged by Konkani’s eminent poets Melvyn Rodrigues and CGS Taccode. The first prize and cash prize of QR 2,000 was bagged by Gladson D’Almeida while Nevil Fernandes bagged the second place and cash prize of QR 1,500. The third place and cash prize of QR 1000 was won by Benjamin Reberio. Catherine Rodrigues distributed the prizes.

The chief guest of the evening Capt Ravi Kumar was in all praise to the MCA for organizing a stupendous event. He had a few words of appreciation about Catherine Rodrigues. He was so impressed by her achievements that he even requested the entire gathering to rise and give a standing ovation to her. It was indeed a glorious tribute to Catherine who has scaled greater heights without much hype.

MCA’s souvenir was released on the occasion by the chief guest. All the musicians, contestants, judges of the semi-finals as well as the preliminaries, compere of the evening, main sponsors Ramco Trading & Contracting, co-sponsors Commercial Bank, media partner Daijiworld were presented with mementos before GVOM Qatar coordinator Veena Pais proposed the vote of thanks.

As the audience waited for the announcement of final results, Qatar’s very own Preema Pinto, a two-time First Runners-up at the GVOM finals and the most loved voice of Qatar Rupert Lobo along with Dr Prashanth Raj, entertained the audience by belting out some of the popular Konkani numbers. Qatar’s newest dancing sensations, D4 Dance Group mesmerised the audience with their scintillating performance.

CGS Taccode with his masterly compering won the hearts of the gathering. MCA needs to be feted again for presenting a flawless show that started and ended on time.

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