Qatar, March 17: The eleventh edition of May Queen Ball (a dinner dance) the most successful and colourful social annual gathering promises to be fun filled event on 28th April 2011 at the Ramada Plaza Doha Hotel from 8.30 pm onwards.
The highlight of the event will be crowning of 11th May Queen by the most popular bollywood stars. Bollywood Stars will inaugurate and The Syndicate to perform at the eleventh annual May Queen Ball 2011 organised by the Goan Welfare Association (GWA), Qatar. The May Ball event has been growing in stature with every passing year. The annual event is usually held in the first half of May but this year it has been advanced “to ensure that it does not clash with the first holy commumion and silver jubilee celebrations of the Indian Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF),” Goan Welfare Association president Simon D’Silva said. The ICBF celebrations will be held on May 5 and 6. This year May Queen will have dual celebration of May Day and easter bonanza.
In the past, this mega event “May Queen” had been attended by the Bollywood Stars like Aftab Shivdasani, Preethi Jhangiani, Asrani, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Indian Pop/Rock Star Remo Fernandes, Manish Goel, Poonam Goel, Rajeev Khandelwal, Chunky Pandey, Nausheen Ali Sardar, Indian Ministers, Indian Ambassadors to Qatar, Diplomats and VVIP’s.
India’s most celebrated and Goa’s top band “The Syndicate” will be flown in to render the exhilarating performances. ‘The Syndicate’ the band which goes down in the history of being the greatest bands of all times having lasted for 20 years on the music scene, since its inception in 1979, are back with a bang with mix of experience, youth and vigour to rock the Global Goans.
Raul D’Mello, has performed for MTV in India and toured the country with MTV road shows and Malibu Carnivals. Having launched ‘Raul with Raagas to Riches’ and cutting albums like ‘Rahul’ in 1999, ‘Sanam’ in 2001, and ‘Joy’ a gospel album saw him being unearthed as the artist of the month in August 2000 by MTV. He opened show for Ricky Martin and Diana King in Mumbai and his breadth of experience stretches to performances like The Cinthol Miss World Ball in November 1996 and the Film Fare Awards. Raul has performed for royalty and toured with legendary American performers Andy Williams and buddy Greco with being part of the longest running rat pack in the UK playing the part of Sammy Davis Jr. Performing through the UK, and Europe for the past eight years. Some of the other countries that The Rat Pack has travelled to for shows include Dubai, Oman, Indonesia, Malaysia, Spain, Germany, France, Monte Carlo to name a few. Apart from his musical styling Raul has lent his voice for several advertisement campaigns and jingles including but not limited to NBC TV launch, Cadbury 5 Star, Fiat Uno, Thumbs Up, Coca Cola, Air India, Siyaram, Bausch and Laumb, and Focus Lenses.
Keyboard vocalist Darryl Rodrigues started his music career with Goa’s top band "The Sting" 1978-1981 and has performed all over India as a gig band. Started the band "Aqua Flow" in Mumbai and cut two of albums while with the same band. Darryl did sessions with the legend of Goan Music the late "Chris Perry" and also arranged and played on various Pop, Hindi Pop, Christmas Albums and Jingles. Played with world famous Saxophonist Braz Gonsalves at various shows. Performed for the Channel [V] Awards at Delhi with the Karl Peters Live Band for two years (1997-1998).
One of the most popular musicians in Goa Diego Fernandes (Bass & vocals), and a specialist at the bass guitar and the double bass, Diego started his music career in school at a very young age. From there on he joined a band called “The Bees”, then “The Squad”. Was the founder member of Goa’s topmost band, “The Syndicate” which ruled the music scene in Goa for nearly two decades. Diego has also been voted as “Best Bass Player” in a poll conducted by Goa’s leading magazine, “Goa Today”. Diego has had the distinction of being one of the few musicians to represent the Government of Goa as cultural ambassadors overseas. In 1991 he represented the Government of India which took them on a tour to East Africa, Mauritius & Re-Union Island totalling 17 performances. He has toured extensively with Goa’s renowned musician Remo Fernandes. In 1992 Diego represented the Indian Government at the International Creole Festival held at Seychelles, wherein groups from the Caribbean Islands, Brazil, France & Mauritius participated. He has also performed in Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya. He has extensively travelled in the Gulf Region (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait & Muscat) and the United Kingdom and performed at major Annual Dances & Ball Room Dances.
Sharon Rodriguez’s versatility as a singer is reflected in her repertoire which consists of the golden oldies, jazz standards, retro, ballads, techno, Latino and disco, as well as current hits and Hindi remixes. She started her singing career with ‘Music Encounter’, and later joined her father, world-renowned jazz saxophonist, Braz Gonsalves, performing every night at the Centaur Hotel, Juhu Beach. She then sang for ‘Friendship Clan’ one of the hottest gig bands in Bombay at the time. A couple of years later, Sharon joined the famous ‘Aqua Flow’. Sharon has also done backing vocals for artistes such as the Colonial Cousins who were backed by her band ‘Hi-Tide’ for all their live shows, performing in all the major cities in India, as well as in Dubai, Sharjah, Muscat, Bangladesh, Nepal, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Phuket and Singapore. Most recently, she performed with them at New York for the Incredible India @60 event, sponsored by the Indian Government. She is also a studio backup singer and a part of the Bollywood film industry. She has worked for music directors such as Anu Malik, Daboo Malik, Sandesh Shandiliya, Ismail Darbar, Rajesh Roshan, Himesh Reshammiya, Jatin Lalit, Nadeem Shravan She has also provided backup vocals on Indi Pop albums for artistes such as Akbar Sami, Adnan Sami, Sukhwindara Singh, Daler Mehndi, Vikas Bhalla, Tanya Singh, Suchitra Krishnamoorty, Shaan etc. to name just a few.
Paul De Souza, one of Goa’s leading and best drummers for the last 32 years could play drums at a tender age of 10 like any other professional of that time. At the Age of 14, Paul joined his first band "Les Vendels". This band became the number one pop group in the mid-seventies in Goa. It was here that he got the recognition of being the best drummer in Goa. In 1979, Paul, his brother Francis and their friends Joe, Diago and Constancio formed a band called 'The Syndicate' which was formed with an intention to provide popular music. It was Paul who got the Band strong as a good drummer with strict timing. His legacy will remain in the Music industry in Goa to be followed by the young followers of Music.
The lead guitarist and vocals Adrian Pereira, coming from an IT background and a hardware engineer, Adrian started his music career joining a band called Aquatech and has been very popular ever since. Then he joined Sky High which gave serious thought to music. Along with his brother Conrad, he put together a rock band called the Sacrilege and that’s where he got really known as a Guitar Player. Has played concerts all over India, one of the best being The Goa Engineering College, The Happenings. He has been a part of a Philharmonic Choir called Juventus lead by Omar Loyola De Pereira a renowned Classical Guitar Player. He has also been a part of one of the most popular bands in Goa known as “The Big City Band” and of their album The Spirit of Goa which was launched in the UK.
GOA’s top legendary hosts Cheryl Almeida and Xavier Fernandes will be specially flown in to the country to compere the eleventh annual May Queen Ball. Cheryl having worked with Event companies like Pegasus Mumbai, Journey World Wide, Bangalore, Golden Isle Goa, Siddhi Vinayak Goa, Out of the Box Goa have gained the much needed exposure thus creating a sense of excitement at the events she host. The shows she has done for well known companies like, ICICI Prudential, Piramal Health Care, Vodafone, Videocon, Max New York Life, etc., adding a feather to her cap is “The Grape Escapade 2010 and 2011” and the Domestic Tourism Road Show organized by Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of Goa. Likewise Xavier hosted numerous weddings, parties, product launches & conferences, Christmas & New Year Eve shows , Valentine Nite shows , Dine & Dances , Beat shows , Fetes , Theme Nites for Hotels & Clubs , Local Festival shows like Sao Joao , Sangodd’s etc . Hosted The Nite O’ Roses in Kuwait.
The Goan Welfare Association endeavours to be on the forefront to organize major events keeping in mind the traditional hospitality, cultural heritage and music.
The May Ball has been successful in getting worldwide coverage for the event and is one of the eagerly awaited event among the Indian community in the State of Qatar. Like past years, this year too the event will cater all the nationalities and specially Indians in general. Participants to the contest should contact the organizers as early as possible. Participants to the contest should contact the organizers as early as possible. More details can be had by phoning on 55550491, 66828980, 55529397 & 55218480.
The official airline is Qatar Airways and official media is Gulf Times. Await for more details.