‘Sarangi’ season 3 winners showcased

Islamabad: The third season of the music contest ‘Sarangi’ - an initiative of Serena Hotels ‘Cultural Diplomacy’ - was held at the Shishmahal Hall and attended by a large number of guests. An ambience suitable for the occasion had been created with a colorful stage; lighting and best of all, an orchestra playing delightful tunes of well loved Pakistani musical compositions during the time the guests were being seated after a high tea, setting the mood for what was to come.

Contesting for the trophy was petite, sixteen years old Samya Ghafoor; serious and nervous, Humail Rajpoot; cheerful Najam Saleem and confident Atif Sunny. The judges were Asif Ali Santoo Khan Qawwal (an official student of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He is the grandson of Ustad Santoo Khan alias Mushtaq Ahmed and son of Ustad Manzoor Hussain and also the great-grandson of legendary Qawwali singer Moula Baksh Qawaal); Zoe Viccaji (a popular singer-songwriter and actress has been playing guitar and writing her own songs since the age of fifteen. She began her career as a backing vocalist at Coke Studio and later moved on to becoming one of the featured artists. She has released many singles and a couple of award winning albums) and Sarmad Ghafoor (a record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released two albums; produced albums for a wide variety of artists and played drums, bass, and guitars on numerous singles and albums).

The programme began with the screening of glimpses of the first two Sarangi seasons, followed by short clips of the thoughts and aspirations of the four contestants chosen for Season 3.

First to come on stage was Najam Saleem who sang two popular Sufi numbers; then Atif Sunny who played the harmonium as he sang his semi classical numbers, followed by Humail Rajpoot who sang a soulful composition of his own followed by a classical number delivered in his style. Last but not least, Samya sang semi classical/classical numbers. In between performances the judges gave their opinions, which, hopefully, were a learning experience for the young contestants.

In his address, CEO Serena Hotels, Aziz Boolani welcomed the guests; spoke of how they wanted to showcase the positive image of Pakistan, elaborating on what had been achieved so far to preserve and promote the musical heritage of Pakistan; the Sarangi initiative that provides a platform to young and talented musicians to engage with wider audiences; informed that Serena was doing all these events gratis so as to promote talented youngsters of the country in all fields; thanked the judges who gave of their valuable time and expertise; the hotel management and staff for all the hard work that goes into organizing such an event and concluded by hoping everyone would enjoy the evening.

While the judge’s deliberated, the Season 2 winner sang a semi classical number to entertain the guests and before the results were announced, Asif Ali also delighted the guests by agreeing to sing. He left immediately after because of some urgent business.

Zoe Viccagi announced the winners, informing that there was a tie for first position, which was taken by Samya and Humail. He received a music video and a song recording; whereas Samya received full scholarship from Serena for doing her bachelors in musicology from NCA. She was quite taken aback by this generosity!It was an enjoyable occasion and many memories were created as well as captured on camera and of - course, in ‘selfies!’