Concert boost to Prakriti

The Telegraph, Kalimpong, Feb. 3: Hundreds of residents here braved the winter chill to attend an open air concert organised at Motor Stand this evening to drum up support for Chhote Ustaad contestant Prakriti Giri.

The euphoria around young Prakriti from Darjeeling, who has entered the final rounds of the nationwide singing contest being aired on an entertainment channel, brought back memories of the mass hysteria surrounding Prashant Tamang, who eventually went on to bag the Indian Idol crown last year.

Various local artistes, including Sa Re Ga Ma Pa (Bangla) finalist Karma Sherpa, entertained the crowd for about two hours in the presence of Prakriti’s proud father Naresh Giri, who had driven down from Darjeeling for the concert.

“I have come here with the hope that the people of Kalimpong will help our daughter reach her destination,” Giri told The Telegraph. Like other talent-hunt shows, the winner of Chhote Ustaad, too, will be decided largely by SMS voting. “SMS votes are crucial this time, especially since the vibes of the judges aren’t that great,” added Giri.

Vision Kalimpong, which had organised the concert, had also played a leading role in the mass SMS voting for Prashant during the Indian Idol contest.

Apart from the concert for Prakriti, Vision will help produce the music video of a Hindi song composed by the Peshok-based Sagar-Kiran duo in her support. In fact, the audio of the still untitled track was released during the concert.