Daijiworld Media Network - Muscat
Muscat, Oct 26: Muscat, the capital of Sultanate of Oman which is regarded as one of the finest Gulf countries where a sizeable number of Indians reside, is all set to host the mega finale of Gulf Voice of Mangalore, Season 4.
After three successful events in the past (Kuwait 2008, Dubai 2010, Doha 2012), Gulf Voice of Mangalore, the brainchild of two veteran Konkani activists and organisers from Kuwait Lawrence Pinto and Louis Rodrigues, has become a household name in every Konkani speaking home in the Gulf and all over the world.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, UAE and Oman, all of which have a good number of Konkani speaking community members from Mangalore, are the participating countries in the event.
Louis Rodrigues and Lawrence Pinto (Founders of GVOM)
All the six semi-finals have been completed and now one male and one female contestant from each country have emerged winner to represent their respective country. To add spark to the show, recorded videos of all semi-finals are being telecast in the local Daijiworld 24x7 TV channel, quickly touching the hearts of Konkani music lovers residing in the coastal cities of Karnataka.
Now the final host Muscat, under the chairmanship of Stany Fernandes, popularly known as 'Dattu' in Oman, is all set present the historic event on Friday, November 7.
Stany Fernandes - Chairman, organising committee, MCCP, Muscat
"We have tremendous pressure to make this show a memorable one, as there are huge expectations from all corners. With six Gulf countries involved in this event, the show is truly going to be an international one. We have well-known judges coming from India, also master compere and musicians coming from Mangalore. We want to ensure that it is a transparent and sincere contest so that real talents shine," says Stany Fernandes speaking to daijiworld.
"We are grateful to founders of the show Lawrence Pinto and Louis Rodrigues for giving us an opportunity to host the show in Muscat. We have a good number of Konkani speaking community members here, and we expect people beyond language barrier to attend the show. Undoubtedly, the show is going to be one of the biggest hosted by MCCP in its history," says Fernandes, who is also a senior member and past president of MCCP which is doing yeoman service to the community in Oman from the last couple of decades.
MCCP announces panel of judges for GVOM finale
GVOM finale organiser MCCP has officially announced the panel of judges for the final event.
Fr Valerian Mendonca
Poet, composer and director of music, Fr Valerian has brought out 35 audio CDs of devotional music along with Fr Clement Mascarenhas - 24 in Konkani, 6 in Hindi, 4 in Kannada and 1 in English. He has served as the director of Sandesha Foundation for Culture and Education, Mangalore. Besides singing, he plays the accordion, keyboard and guitar, and is an enthusiast of poetry, music, art and dance.
He has composed Konkani lyrics for hymns and bhajans of Dr Fr Charles Vas, SVD, Mumbai. He has also composed lyrics and music of a number of anthems for institutions like St Joseph Engineering College, Vamanjoor, Milagres College, Mangalore, Sacred Heart College, Madanthyar, St Mary’s College, Shirva, and many others. He was awarded the Sandesha Award for Konkani Music in 2013.
Presently, he is the chancellor of the diocese of Udupi and parish priest of St Peter Church, Barkur.
Babitha D'Sa
A well-known face in the Wilfy Rebimbus musical nites for decades, Babitha D'Sa has rendered her voice to Wilfy audio albums as well.
Babitha has sung in 33 CDs of Wilfy Rebimbus and in a few CDs of Stany Mendonca and Claud Bendur. She has sung devotional songs in another 6 CDs of Wilfy, Fr Walter Albuquerque, Fr Rony Serrao. Babitha has also sung a duet song with Prem for Konkani film “Bogsane”. She has also acted in the musical drama “Ali Baba and 40 Chors”. In 1977, HMV the giant music company had recorded 2 of her songs for their disc.
Recently KarnatakaKonkaniSahithyaAcademy honoured her in recognition of her contributions to Konkani music. In 1995 Konkan Kogul Wilfy and Meena had hounoured her with gold medal for her long standing contribution to Konkani music and for her association with Wilfy’s Troupe United Youngsters.
She was among the panel of judges for season 3 of Gulf Voice of Mangalore semi-finals in Kuwait.
Ivan A Sequeira
Ivan A Sequeira from Valencia, Mangalore is currently residing in Mumbai. Ivan, who started singing at the age of 7, won prizes in singing contest right from a tender age. He has been an active member of Wilfy Rebimbus group from the first Wilfy Nite. He has 44 years of association with the Wilfy Rebimbus family.
Ivan has performed in Bahrain, Kuwait, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other countries. He has also rendered his voice for 7 devotional albums. He has performed for musical nites of MickMax, Claude D’Souza, Prem Kumar, Henry D’Souza, Victor Concessco and Charles D’Cunha.
He was the judge for Kuwait semi-finals of Gulf Voice of Mangalore, season 3.
Currently, he is actively associated with the Wilfy Rebimbus group and performs for all its albums and Wilfy Nites. Settled in Mumbai, he is actively involved in Bhayandar church choir.
Alwin Arun Noronha
Alwin is currently incharge headmaster at St Joseph’s PU College (high school section), Bajpe. As choir master for Bajpe parish, he has trained many emerging singing talents in Konkani music.
He was among the panel of judges for the Gulf Voice of Mangalore semi-finals in Doha-Qatar, and has also conducted voice training workshops in Mangalore and one in Doha-Qatar.
He has two Konkani music albums to his credit, "Bhangramani" and "Bhogthiponi". He has already presented seven of his own musical nites around Mangalore. Apart from his own albums, he has rendered voice to many Konkani audio albums and musical nites. Presently he runs a one-man band called 'Micro Band'.
Compere Leslie Rego
Leslie Rego will host the finals of GVOM for the fourth consecutive time. He has been an integral part of the show right from 2008, and during the first two seasons he had travelled across all the six Gulf countries for hosting the semi-finals and the finals. A prolific speaker, actor, compere and a successful event organiser, Leslie has compered a number of events in India and abroad.
He is currently running a Konkani talk show 'Amchi Maati, Amchim Monsham' on the recently launched Daijiworld 24x7 TV channel, which has grown into a popular programme among the people of coastal districts within a short span of time.
Musicians for GVOM finale :
Joswin
Theo, Richard, Melwin and Ashit
Joswin Pinto, music director and lead guitarist, has been playing for a number of Wilfy Nites in India, Gulf and Canada from the past many years. He has composed and directed music for a number of albums and shows. Currently, he is the lead guitarist in 'Cosmic Rays', one of Mangalore's popular bands.
Joswin will lead the team of musicians for the finale. He will be supported by Richard Monteiro, Melwyn Fernandes, Theo Alvares and Ashit Pinto.
More exciting details on GVOM finale will be updated in the coming days..keep watching this space..Daijiworld.com is exclusive media partner for the event
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