KOLKATA: Beginning 3 July, a musical talent hunt show, Swara Odishara will air on general entertainment channel Sarthak TV from the Sarthak Entertainment Group every Thursday and Friday between 9.30pm and 10.30pm.
Debi Prasad Padhi, marketing manager, Sarthak Entertainment Group, says, “We are coming up with a competitive reality show Swara Odishara. We expect a participation of more than 5,000 people. The one-of-its-kind musical talent hunt will have 21 episodes in all which includes the grand finale”
The actual duration of the show is 48 minutes while the target audience is CS 4+.
When asked about the USP of the show, Padhi says it will feature playback singers and musicians from both Bollywood and Ollywood (Odisha film industry). “It will have a high emotional connect and cut-throat competition as the selection of singers from the Odisha hinterland will be done by three of the best mentors. There will also be huge marketing opportunities at each location and level,” explains Padhi.
“Music is special for the Sarthak Group as ours is a phenomenal contribution to the music industry in the state for the past 32 years, with a library of over 20,000 songs. Ours is one of the best platforms for budding singers. We have a collection of 12,000 albums and devotional songs and an additional 4,000 film songs,” he informs.
Sarthak Entertainment Group has identified locations such as Balasore, Berhampur, Cuttack and Bhubaneshwar for the first and second round of auditions for the show. Zeroing in on talent and forming teams will be the job of the celebrity mentors including Bollywood and regional playback singer Shaurin Bhatt, Oriya singer Sritam Mohanty and music composers Bikash Mishra and Manmath Mishra. The contestants selected after rounds one and two will have to face a higher level of audition at the same location to be part of the top 24 finalists.
The judges include singer Namita Agrawalla, singer/lyricist/music director Srikant Goutam and music and movie director Malaya Mishra. However, for the elimination rounds, the judges will be Sravan, Kumar Sanu, Lalit and Sanjeev Darshan while for the grand finale, they will include Md Ajiz, Suresh Wadekar, Namita Agrawalla and Udit Narayan.
The show will be hosted by debonair Oriya hero Debasish.
While the presenting sponsor was supposed to be Idea initially, it is now Lalchand Jewellers. It will be called “Lalchand Jewellers Swara Odishara powered by Pran Foods,” reveals Padhi.
About Lalchand Jewellers showing interest in such a show, a media expert says, “Name anything with reach, brand enhancement brand recall….such shows give superb mileage.”
Replying to a question about TRPs and advertising rates expected, Padhi says, “We are expecting a TRP of 3-4+ in CS4+ TG and targeted advertising rates are Rs 10,000 for 10 seconds.”
