Mangalore : 'Gulf Voice of Mangalore' Logo Released, Jury Announced
Pics by Dayananda Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, May 8: The logo of ‘The Gulf Voice of Mangalore’, the Konkani musical extravaganza, an event which has spurred the Konkani music field in the gulf in the last two years, was released in Mangalore today. Rohan Monteiro of Property Estate and Developers, Mangalore, unveiled the logo that represents Mangalore with its ubiquitous coconut trees and the gulf region with the picture of the camel and sand. The golden mike in the logo symbolizes that the event is indeed a springboard for the musical talent available among Konkani speaking Catholics in the gulf and Gulf Voice of Mangalore is the channel through which that golden voice is going to be discovered.
Addressing a joint press conference in the city, Valerian Peris, the Chief coordinator of Gulf Voice of Mangalore revealed the names of the jury members who will judge the final event on October 22, 2010. The jury comprises three leading personalities in Konkani music field - Joel Pereira, a leading name in playing many musical instruments, Konkani Kalashree Claude D Souza and Reena D Souza, professional singer and daughter of legendary Konkani singer and composer late Jerome D Souza. Leslie Rego, a compere and coordinator par excellence, will conduct the final event which will be held in Dubai and being organized in by 22-year old organization - Mangalore Konkans, Dubai. In fact the event has got a major boost with Mangalore Konkans, Dubai, taking over the onus of organizing the gala event.
“The first event of Gulf Voice of Mangalore was a huge success which exhibited the unity and camaraderie among Konkani speaking Catholics spread across gulf countries. We want to recreate the same spirit and josh this year too”, Valerian pointed out. The preliminary rounds of the event will be held in the respective countries with qualified local judges judging the competition. The semifinals and finals will be judged by the jury which will be travelling from Mangalore for the purpose.
Joel, Reena and Claud
Valerian Peris said that the event has gained popularity, spurred by the success of the event first held in the year 2008. There is a quantum jump in the number of participant as about 400 competitors are expected to participate in the event which will be held in 3 stages – preliminary, semifinals and finals. About 200 participants had competed in the first ever Gulf Voice of Mangalore. “This year the competition will be held in two categories, male and female and we are going to select only one winner in each category. The competition is open to singers of Konkani speaking catholic community residing in gulf countries”, Valerian Peris stated. The winners in each category will be given a cash prize of Rs 1.0 lac and the runners up will be given Rs. 50,000/- along with the trophy.
Responding to a question Valerian stated that only those songs released from albums can be chosen by the participants competing in the event. “There are about 50,000 Konkani speaking Catholics in gulf countries. With nearly 400 participants taking part in the event indicates the popularity of the programme”, he declared.
It may be recalled here that the first Gulf Voice of Mangalore event held in 2008 was initiated by Lawrence Pinto and Louis Rodrigues of Kuwait and the programme reached the zenith of the popularity in the very first year. Vinay Lewis of Udupi was the winner of the first Gulf Voice of Mangalore event while Donald Korea was the first runner up and Roshan D Souza was the second runner up.
James Mendonca, Lenus Moras, Lawrence Pinto, Walter Nandalike, Rohan Monteiro, Claude D Souza, Joel Pereira and Leslie Rego were present in the joint press conference.
Mangalore Konkans is a leading association of Konkani Catholics from the coastal belt in the gulf. It was established in 1988 with the cardinal objective of promoting Konkani language and culture among Mangalorean Konkani speaking community. For the last 22 years it has been doing an exemplary work in carrying out its major objectives of promoting Konkani flavor among Konkani speaking people in the gulf.
With a series of preliminary rounds now going on and semifinals and finals slated from September end and October, Gulf Voice of Mangalore it is going to be a musical bonanza for the Konkani speaking catholic community in the gulf.