MaxLife i-Genius Young Singing Star Grand Finale!!!

Date: 17 December, 2014

Venue: Taj Lands End, Bandra, Mumbai

Website: http://www.igenius.org

Every child is blessed with one or the other talent, an amazing vocal, theater skills, a hidden author or anything for that matter. Its we parents who need to recognize their hidden talent and nurture them to better their future. 

MaxLife Insurance has taken up such an initiative to recognize the hidden talents from across the country. i-Genius programme which was launched in 2010, has become a benchmark initiative in the country to recognize young talent. They have connected with over 20 lakh children across the country through their i-genius Scholarship, Young Authors Hunt programme and this year's Young Singing Stars. MaxLife Insurance along with leading music label Universal Music India, launched ‘i-genius Young Singing Stars’ programme, a nationwide search for young singing talent. This unique competition provided exciting platform for aspiring and talented young singing stars, giving children aged between 8- 15 years the opportunity to have their songs heard by industry professionals and a chance to have their own music album. Through a rigorous three phase selection process the panel of jury shortlisted many top performers. The video conferencing round resulted in the final short listing to top 10 who went through mentoring sessions with Salim Merchant and Shraddha Sharma. 

Few of we bloggers from Blogadda, were invited for the grand finale of the i-Genius Young Singing Star, which was held at Taj Lands End, in Mumbai. As always, I was there quite on time to the event, joined other bloggers. 

The event started off with mesmerizing performance by host for the evening Mansi Scott. Mr. Rajesh Sud CEO and Managing Director, Max Life Insurance and Ms Anisha Motwani, Director & Chief Marketing Officer, shared the journey of i-Genius YSS. How the platform was made available to all children who dream big and aspire to achieve greater heights. Out of 1.26 lakh entries, 9,000 plus entries were by under-privileged children as a result of a special inclusion drive conducted by Max Life in 7 cities. Devraj Sanyal, Managing Director - Universal Music Group and EMI South Asia said, it was the most amazing talent he had witnessed in his career. And those Young Singing Stars were truly the future of India and Universal & EMI were proud to be an integral part of the process of discovering and nurturing those future stars. He added, he was excited and eagerly waiting to start recording the albums and singles and introduce the Young Singing Stars to the world at large.

Salim Merchant and Shraddha Sharma performing for the evening

Then was the introduction and performances by the jury for the evening Shraddha Sharma, a Youtube superstar who has over million fans following her music on Youtube, and Salim Merchant, a leading composer and director who has directed over 40 movies.

The super talented i-Genius Stars

Panel of Jury Devraj Sanyal, MD - Universal Music Group and EMI South Asia, Salim Merchant, Music composer and director and Youtube SuperStar Shraddha Sharma

Followed by two rounds of performances by top 10 finalists who kept everyone engaged with their amazing vocal. To add to the melodies for the evening, were the performances by Kavitha Seth and Raga Trippin', a unique band of six, who perform non-instrumentally music, solely depending on the sounds and rhythm created by their voice. 

Mansi Scott and Kavitha Seth

Raga Trippin'

The Top 10 finalists

The event ended with the announcement of the two winners, Shrada Shreya amongst the seniors and Shivam Ahuja amongst the juniors who won an album contract, whilst the 8 finalists won 'single song' contract with Universal Music Group.