Media Release
Doha, Oct 18: One of Konkani's most-awaited shows, Wilfy Nite came back to Qatar after 4 years and one must say it came back with a bang. The Rebimbus family in the company of winners of Gulf Voice of Mangalore recreated the magic of yore, taking the audience down the memory lane. For the first time ever, all the winners of Gulf Voice of Mangalore (GVOM) from 2008 to 2014 came on one stage with the Rebimbus family presenting evergreen golden numbers of the legend, the late Wilfy Rebimbus.
It was a complete entertainment package with mesmerising music, scintillating dances, side-splitting humour, commanding compering and the hallmark of all Wilfy Nites, perfect organizing by MCA. This Wilfy Nite with GVOM Taram on Friday October 16 will go down in the annals of Mangalore Cultural Association as a red letter.
Ever since Gulf Voice of Mangalore rose on the horizon of the Middle East, it has become a much-awaited competition wherein best of the bests are seen vying to top the charts and as the results have suggested, only the best have been crowned winners. Every edition of the GVOM has thrown up a new singing sensation who has won the hearts of the people. Be it the melodious Vinay Lewis, the first GVOM, enchanting Ivan and mellifluous Gladys Lorena of 2010 edition, powerhouse Orson and silvery Reena of 2012 finals or the latest GVOMs, the sonorous Morvine or soulful Melody Queen Joshal, all of them have made it to the hearts of the audience through their stupendous talent and hardwork. However, it has often been felt that post their crowning, these talented singers often do not get ample opportunities to exhibit their precious talent due to various reasons. One of such reasons may be because they are based abroad and hence it becomes difficult for organizers and composers to utilize their talents for their programmes and albums.
But Mangalore Cultural Association (MCA) led by Arthur Pais took a unique and praiseworthy step towards bringing these singing stars together on one stage to provide a wholesome entertainment to the Konkani music lovers of Qatar. Except the winners of 2012 edition of GVOM Orson Albert and Reena, who could not make it to the event owing to their prior commitments, all the other winners were seen on Qatar stage. They not just rocked the stage but had the audience glued to their seats till the end, belting out superlative Konkani numbers of the legendary Wilfy Rebimbus.
The much-anticipated event began with the MCA members singing the MCA Geeth after a brief introduction to the evening by Alfred Cyril Crasta. Following this, Alfred handed over the stage to the evening's compere, the incomparable Leslie Rego who in his signature style opened up the stage for the first performance of the evening. The jam-packed Regency hall burst into huge applause as Konkan Myna Meena Rebimbus, Veena Pais and Vishwas Rebimbus took to the stage to present the first song of the evening 'Dev Boro Dis Dinvdi' which was followed by another song 'Vadondi Chadondi' during which winners of GVOM Vinay, Ivan, Gladys, Joshal and Morvine entered the stage for the first time in the evening. Vinay Lewis, the first-even GVOM, who had in fact come in special praise for his deep, melodious voice by none other than the legend Konkan Kogull Wilfy Rebimbus who was one of the jury members at the first GVOM, then provided the perfect beginning to the evening with the popular peppy number 'Oh Sonia'.
That was just the beginning. As the evening wore on and mercury dipped low within the confines of the Regency halls the magic of Wilfy's songs engulfed the audience with the spellbinding rendition by each of the singers. Young, up and coming Joshal Sweeda and Morvine Quadros' rendition of one of the most romantic numbers of the legend 'Uzwad Chandremacho', peppy and memorable 'Bobby' by Vishwas and evergreen duet 'Ani Maka Na Kai Unne' by Ivan and Gladys had the audience going berserk in appreciation. But it was the entry of Konkan Myna for her only solo of the evening 'Tujhe Yenne Kedna' that created ripples among the audience. Meena Rebimbus has been entertaining the Konkani music buffs for almost a half a decade now. Her singing even to this date is impeccable and incomparable. The magic in her voice, specially as she hits those high notes, is celestial and unique to her. She was and is one of the best female voices Konkani has ever produced. In fact her singing came to a special praising from the chief guest of the evening Capt Ramanan Ravi Kumar who said that he was stunned by her voice quality and singing and even asked the audience to rise and give a standing ovation to her.
Some of Wilfy's ever popular songs such as 'Disco' by Gladys, Vanita Vandana Shalini by Ivan, 'Lakhant Ekle Mujhe Hokle' by Morvin, 'Mujhe Kalliz Tuka Tujhe Kalliz Maka' by Vinay-Gladys, peppy and very popular 'Ladru Peris Mujhe Naanv' by Ivan and Vinay and a medley of Wilfy's songs on Mother by Veena-Vishwas rekindled the memories of the audience and proved that the legacy of the legend keeps growing.
But there were 3 songs which were the highlight of the evening. The first one was eternal number 'Mujha Kallzachi Har-eik Udi' sung soulfully by young Joshal. This song is legendary in its own sense and has special place in the hearts of the Konkani music lovers and Wilfy's fans. It's the magnum opus of Wilfy's compositions. Joshal's extraordinary talent was in full flow as she emoted every feeling of this song in a beautiful manner. The audience got so much engrossed in this song that it took a while for them to come of the trance and applaud Joshal after she completed the song. Another number that had the audience asking for more was 'Chandneachi Raat Aichi' by Vishwas.
This romantic number from 'Tisri Cheet' which was then also published in Wilfy's 12th Volume a classic one and Vishwas did a great job in presenting this wonderful number. But the song that moved the audience and had them in tears was 'Mai Tuka Kasli Sun Jai' by Meena, Morvine and Joshal. This song has not made it to any of Wilfy's music albums and has rarely been performed live during the nites either. For almost all in the audience it was first-time listening of this song. Yet they were moved, moved by the emotions surrounding the songs and those emotions perfectly expressed by the singers. While the storyline of the song itself was emotional, it was the rendering of the song by the trio that came in praise.
The background music for the entire programme was provided by Qatar's famed group Singing Bird who were led by Joswin Pinto who had specially been flown from Mangalore.
Amidst this musical extravaganza that had the audience in daze, three youngsters blossomed with their unique talent and provided the perfect 'tadka' for the star-studded evening. Yes! The comedy trio of Merwin Aranha Shirva, Alwyn Danthy Pernal and Royston Balkunje sent the audience in peals of laughter with their rib-tickling comedy. It was Veni, vidi, vici moment for trio as they literally conquered the hearts of the Qatar audience. Merwin Shirva is a household name in Mangaluru and around after his stupendous performance with his Team Prasamsha in the Bale Telipale comedy reality show presented by Namma TV while Alwyn Danthy is known to be one of the finest comperes, youth motivator, trainer and actor. Youngest of the three Royston was a surprise package to all. The trio combined perfectly in delivering punches after punches and regaling the audience with their perfect timing and sterling acting skills. It can be said with surety that these three, if they continue in the same vein, would become one of the most popular and sought-after comedy troupes in Konkani circles very soon. MCA should be applauded for breaking the norms of inviting only the established teams for such performances. The organizers not only recognized trio's talent but also trusted their ability to deliver at the big stage and one must admit that the trio justified MCA's decision.
The scintillating dances by Qatar's very own D4Dance troupe were another attraction of the programme. The young dancers from Qatar with graceful feet presented elegant dances enthralling the enthusiastic audience.
In between the entertainment programme, a short yet meaningful stage programme was held during which MCA's Seva Puraskar-2015 was presented to Joseph Crasta, the Good Samaritan of DK who has been running Snehalaya, a home for the needy. He has rendered an extraordinary, remarkable and unbelievable service to the most unfortunate people of society through his inspiring mission. Snehalaya Orphanage Home for the abandoned established by Joseph has been ray of hope for the destitute and the needy. Joseph Crasta was presented draped with a shawl and was presented with the citation and a cash award for Rs 1 lac. Captain Ramanan Ravi Kumar, the defence advisory at the Indian Embassy, Qatar who was the chief guest of the evening presented the Seva Puraskar to Joseph in the august presence of Meena Rebimbus, MCA president Arthur Pais, MCA advisory committee members Felix Lobo, Joachim D'Souza, Wilfred Fernandes, Jerry Pinto and MCA vice-president Aloysius D'Souza. Clara D'Souza read out the citation.
Accepting the honour, Joseph thanked MCA for recognizing his service to the society. He also shared his story of accidentally getting into social service and his future plans to reach out to maximum number of needy people.
Earlier the chief guest of the evening Captain Ramanan Ravi Kumar, the defence advisory at the Indian Embassy, Qatar was escorted to the dais by MCA president, vice-president along with the Advisory committee members. MCA cultural secretary Jovita D'Souza introduced Capt Ramanan to the gathering. Addressing the gathering Capt Ramanan lauded the efforts of MCA in promoting, preserving and nourishing the native culture and language and also feted them for recognizing social gems such as Joseph Crasta. He had a special word of praise for Meena Rebimbus for her rendering of evergreen number 'Tujhe Yenne Kedna'.
MCA has last year introduced a unique initiative of Konkani poetry competition which is open for all the Konkani-speaking people residing in Qatar. The best three poems and poets were awarded with prizes. This year too the competition was held and good number of poets participated in the Kavita writing competition. Veena Pais announced the results. Last year's winner Gladson Almeida bagged the first prize and cash award for Qatari Riyals 2000 for second consecutive year.
While Vivek Monteiro and Sandeep Noronha shared the second prize of Qatari Riyals 1500, the third prize of Qatari Riyals 1000 was shared between Jyothi Noronha and Prabha Rego. All other participants were presented with consolation prizes. Capt Ramanan presented the prizes to the winners as well as to the participants. Noted Konkani poets Eddie Sequeira, C G S Taccode and H M Pernal were the jury members for the Kavita competition.
All the dancers, singers, comedians were presented with mementos on the occasion.
The entire nite was compered by Konkani's ace compere Leslie Rego in his usual inimitable style. Right from the beginning to the end, he not only held the entire event in control but also had the audience involved with his commanding control over the language and extraordinary skills in managing the gathering.
MCA president Arthur Pais welcomed the gathering and vice-president Aloysius D'Souza proposed the vote of thanks. The jampacked hall of Regency of over 800 crowd witnessed this memorable event.