Pics by Prakash Dsouza
Media Release
Dubai, Apr 14: ‘Sangeeth Sardar Wilson Olivera’ will be back in the UAE on public demand to render the best in Konkani music and melody that is hugely desired and demanded by the many Konkani music lovers here. This beautiful saga of music will be held on May 3 at Sheikh Rashid Auditorium, Dubai and on May 4 at India Social and Cultural Centre, Abu Dhabi.
Entertainment has always been an integral part of Wilson Olivera’s Nites. In preparation for the show, a pre-event meet was held at Winny’s Restaurant Karama, Dubai on Friday April 12 amidst a gathering of many association members and media representatives. The pre-event began with a prayer by Cynthia Goveas invoking God’s blessings on organizers, event management, association members and all others to accomplish this event successfully.
Ronald Olivera, the master of ceremony for this mega event welcomed the gathering and thanked all the members, guests, artistes, well-wishers and prominent personalities for attending the pre-event meet in spite of their busy schedule. On behalf of Wilson Olivera, he took this opportunity to welcome the event organizer, Jawahar Lawrence Castelino, director, Seasons Middle East, FZE and acknowledged him for organizing the event single-handedly. Secondly, he also invited Herman Lewis, entrepreneur, CEO and MD of 105.4 FM Radio Spice, Alwyn Pinto, representative of Mangalore Konkans, Stan Ageira, representative of Daijiworld, Elias D’Souza, ex-president, Bellevision and Cynthia Goveas, assistant co-ordinator, SMMKC-Sharjah and thanked them for their wholehearted support to the event.
This occasion was indeed a good platform for many to share their thoughts on Wilson Olivera, discuss the forthcoming event details and eventually support the event. Getting nostalgic about Wilson Olivera’s musical nites and compositions, Alwyn Pinto, representative of Mangalore Konkans wished Wilson Olivera all the very best for his upcoming musical show. He recalled Wilson Olivera’s shows held at St Agnes Special School Ground, Mangalore in January 2011 and the housefull show during the last nite at Dubai and also urged all Konkani associations in UAE to come forward and support him once again.
Stan Ageira, renowned writer and poet too spoke on this occasion and said, "Making an event such as this come true is not easy and requires a lot of courage and determination, which Jawahar Castelino, director, Seasons Middle East, FZE has aptly shown by taking this bold step." He further said that Wilson Olivera has taken the late Wilfy Rebimbus as his role model and has now earned a name for himself in the Konkani fraternity. "It is now our responsibility to support the organizers to make this event a successful one," he said.
Having closely known Wilson Olivera during the last show organized by SMMKC – Sharjah, Cynthia Goveas urged each and every one to remain positive and step forward together in uplifting Konkani culture in the Gulf. She exclaimed, “It’s not a single person’s show but it’s ours.”
Herman Lewis, entrepreneur, CEO and MD of 105.4 FM Radio Spice, said Wilson Olivera has his own originality and uniqueness. We should not compare him with other veteran singers but recognize his talents and contribution to Konkani music.
He further added, “Change is a constant thing in life. Wilson Olivera is back in UAE to render something new to the Konkani music lovers. The combination of Olivera with all the other artistes will definitely make the show more interesting and take it to a higher level."
From his experience he also suggested to bring about changes in the programme rather than going with the monotonous flow of felicitating sponsors, making long speeches and thus wasting time. He said it was time to cut down these things and only concentrate on good quality programmes and presentations.
Being affirmative, Ronald Olivera, the compere for the forthcoming show said that there will be a few changes and definitely the last show's songs would not be repeated and the audience will witness the newest composition by Wilosn Olivera during these shows. The novelty of the programme lies in the fact that it is a show WITHOUT ANY SPONSORS. It is a single venture by Jawahar Castelino via his event management group Seasons Middle East.
The main sponsor Jawahar Lawrence Castalino in his address said that this is the first time his event management has ventured into organizing a Konkani programme. Jawahar said, “Initially I was a little skeptical as Wilson Olivera’s nite was just staged a few months ago but I took it up as a challenge as I was confident that Wilson Olivera would enthrall the audience time and again and there was absolutely no doubt about it.” He was hopeful that the Konkani community would not just support but also attend the show in large numbers.
He also briefly stated his plan for the year which included a Tulu drama, two Hindi musical programmes of favourite singers Bhupinder Singh and Udit Narayan, a Wilfy Nite and eventually a Mega Wilson Olivera Nite in January 2014. Concluding his brief address, he said, "I do not see Konkani as a profit making venture, and will encourage many more sons and daughters of Konkani to come forward to keep our culture alive."
Elias D’Souza, representative of Bellevision stated that Novelty is the demand of the hour and Wilson Olivera will leave no stone unturned to deliver his best.
The highlight of this pre-event meet was the release of Wilson Olivera Nite’s tickets by Stan Ageira, Herman Lewis and Cynthia Goveas who reminded all to book their seats well in advance to witness the grand musical fiesta. The pre-event meet concluded with a Q and A session wherein the attendees were eager to know more about the forthcoming musical show, the programme sequence, and other highlights so and so forth. A sumptuous dinner was also served for all those who attended.