Udupi: Loyson Corda, Carol  D'Souza Win ‘Voice of Udupi' Title
 
By Dr Eugene D'Souza, Moodubelle
 
Udupi, Jan 3: Loyson Corda of Shirva and Carol Sonia D'Souza of Moodubelle won the coveted 'Voice of Udupi' title in the male and female category respectively in the 'Voice of Udupi' talent hunt competition finals held in the 'Yeh Shyam Mastani' a family entertaining program organized by St Mary's Old Students Association Shirva on Sunday January 1 at 7 pm in St Mary's Grounds, Shirva.
 
The musical evening was excellently coordinated by Simon D'Souza, former president of St Mary's Old Students Association. The function was compeered by Uttam Menezes, a well-known compeer from Dubai with his humour and professionalism and the musical program was anchored by Preetham who kept the audience active throughout the show.

The capacity audience was entertained by professional singers - Joseph Devraj, Mohd Hanif, Subrat Sahoo, Shashikala, Nayana accompanied by seasoned orchestra led by Rajagopal who arrived specially for this occasion from Bangalore. The singers ably supported by the vibrant orchestra presented the musical fiesta of Golden Era of Hindi Songs. The musical night also included dances from Boys Zone Academy group.
 
Fr V Mendonca, Edrian Gomes and Canute Mathias from Shirva were felicitated for their contribution and achievement in the field of music. On this occasion 'Spandana' the souvenir of St Mary's Old Students Association was released. The event also included plenty of entertainment such as, Rib tickling mimicry by Imtiaz Ali and popular Kannada songs by Ravindra Prabhu a well known eminent Kannada singer. The music lovers watched the entertainment extravaganza and the a fierce competition among participants that followed.
 
There were four finalists for the ‘Voice of Udupi' title- Carol Sonia D'Souza from Moodubelle and Murel D'Sa from Shirva in the female category and  Loyson Corda from Shirva and Sandesh Bhat also from Shirva in the male category. These four finalists were selected from the preliminary rounds held on 21st November 2011 at Saude Sabha Bhavan Shirva. All the four talented finalists rendered their magical voices and were greeted and admired by the large audience with huge applauds.
 
Fr Valerian Mendonsa, Rajagopal and Ravindra Prabhu were the judges of the competition, all of whom are eminent in the field of Music. At the end it was it was Carol Sonia D'Souza from Moodubelle in the female category and Loyson Corda from Shirva in the male category bagged the coveted title of 'Voice of Udupi'. The winners were presented trophies and cash prize of Rs. 10,000 each. The runner-ups won the cash prize of Rs. 5,000 each.
 
Carol Sonia D'Souza, an Engineering Graduate in Computer Science, is the eldest among the two children of Victor and Connie D'Souza of Moodubelle. Carol has been  the Choir member of St Lawrence Church Moodubelle. She has been fond of music from her young age and have won various prizes in Parish, Taluk, District and Inter District level competitions. Presently she is working in Bangalore.
 
Loyson Corda a Second Year B Com student of St Mary's College Shirva, is the youngest among the three children of Lawrence and Sewrine Corda of Shirva. Loyson is the Choir member of St Mary's Church Shirva. He is also the member of Spectrum Band Shirva and besides singing he plays bass guitar and trumpet.