MUMBAI: The competition gets tougher on Sony‘s K for Kishore as three IBN 7 challengers gear up to compete against the contestants sent by the other partners. The February 16 episode to be aired on Sony at 9 PM will decide who amongst the challengers will emerge as the wild card entry winner.

In the search for the challengers, Sony Entertainment television travelled across the country. The participants were asked to sing their favourite Kishore Kumar songs, which were recorded on CD‘s and sent to IBN 7 with a personal code for each contestant, for further short listing. The codes of the five short listed candidates were then shared with Sony for final selection and after a rigorous audition, Amit Paul, Ammanat Ali and Jimmy Felix, made it as the IBN 7 challengers.

Pakistani talent Ammanat Ali is the nephew of maestro Gulam Ali and has been singing from an early age. He is a well-known playback singer and has sung for several Pakistani films. Amit Paul, a 24-year-old singer from Shillong and is rated among the top budding singers following his success in the Indian Idol 3 as a runner up. His stylish presentation, versatility in singing, has created a huge fan following for him. Jimmy Felix, 30-year-old is one of the popular singers from Asma band and a huge fan of Kishore Kumar. Channel V gave him a break through their popular show known as "coke V pop stars", which was a turning point in his journey to become a singer

The three IBN 7 challengers along with those selected by other partners will perform in front of three esteemed judges and at least one of them will make it to the K for Kishore main draw as a wild card entry winner/s.

MUMBAI: Love is in the air? and what better time to fall in love for Kanya and her ‘hate guru‘ husband Ranbir! After going through series of planning and scheming to get rid of Kanya from his life (Ranbir was forced by his mother to marry Kanya) Ranbir realizes that there is something about this young girl, who is his better half, that attracts him to her, every time.

Oblivious to the emotions that are stirring within them both Kanya & Ranbir are drawn to each other. In spite of Ranbir repeatedly throwing Kanya out of his room & house he misses her. He really cannot figure out the anxiety and restlessness that he goes thro‘ when Kanya is away from him. In between his love-hate emotions for Kanya he is also keen to trap the ‘wild & wacky‘ Natasha. Will Ranbir succeed in his mission to check out Natasha?

Love happens and Ranbir & Kanya fall in love. Life seems to have come to a complete circle with two people, who started off hating each other, finally in love. What they are not ready for are the side effects that come with love. There‘s romance, love and also mystery that surrounds this unusual love story.

Stay tuned to the drama & emotions unfolding on Monday February 25th at 9.00 p.m, on Kuchh Is Tara only on Sony Entertainment Television.

MUMBAI: If you were in Hong Kong last week, you may be wondering what this phrase means, and why you keep hearing it in every shop, restaurant and market in the city.The obligatory four-word greeting, always said with gusto, wishes others a happy and a prosperous New Year, accordingly to the lunar calendar. However, on February 7 this year, the New Year was extra-special for the Indian community in HK, as the finalists of Star Voice of India welcomed the Chinese Year of the Rat with a scintillating performance in Hong Kong. Indeed, it was an unforgettable evening.

Ishmeet, Harshit, Chhoote Ustad ?Abhaas?, Toshi, Sumitra & Priyani from the popular Star Plus reality show, Star Voice of India performed in front of a packed house at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Auditorium. The sold-out concert, themed as ?Evolution of Bollywood Music? took audience on a sentimental journey through the valley of reminiscences ? Starting with melodious classics of the 1970s all the way up to the contemporary favourites ?Dard-E-Disco? and ?Chak-De?. The talents were engaged in a mellifluous musical camaraderie and went into the crowd, setting the feet tapping. The show also showcased the fusion of local HK dancers dancing on popular Bollywood numbers, clearly a first time on such a big platform. Evidently, if public feedback is the metric of measurement, HK audience loved the performance. The chief guest was Mr. L.D. Ralte, the Consulate General of India in HK. It?s the first time the SVOI talents performed together anywhere internationally. After the event, we had organizer queries for similar shows in US, Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai. Please find attached a few pictures from the show!

The highlight of the evening was the Start of the auditions of Star Voice of HK with the promise that if we are able to spot a real singing talent in HK, he/she will be given an opportunity to travel to India and sing a song from the SVOI Season 2 platform, in front of esteemed judges and this episode will be televised on Star Plus globally. Clearly, this is a huge localization opportunity and will help integrate our International beams better. Already 100 people have signed up for the SVOHK auditions.

This is a small attempt to a bigger canvas called ?SVOI World Tour?. Encouraged by the success of SVOI Concert in HK and after incorporating the many learning too, we at International Business hope to take this property across other Star markets regionally soon (depending on regional market interest). The idea is to further popularize Star, enhance the brand equity of Star Voice of India, and entertain viewers by converting compelling and winning content from reel to real. Thanks & best regards.

MUMBAI: INX Media?s satellite-delivered music channel 9XM, which last month reached out to an additional six million subscribers across India with a distribution deal on government-owned Direct-To-Home platform DD Direct Plus, has established an unprecedented leadership position in only three months since its launch in October 2007.

According to industry figures just released for the key Indian youth demographic of 15-24 year-olds, the channel - which takes an entirely fresh approach to presenting music - has achieved a more than two-fold audience share lead over Viacom?s global youth music brand MTV, and an audience share in excess of seven times that of News Corporation?s STAR TV music platform Channel [V], both of which have been active in the sub-continent for over ten years (see chart below).

"9XM has filled a void in the music television space. It has created a distinctive new space in music and entertainment that targets the needs and attitudes of youth, and not just the demographics," said Anthony Pettifer, Group Director, Brand and Communication, INX Media. "That?s why we?ve seen the channel being watched not only at home, but in canteens, colleges, bars, shopping malls, gyms, coffee bars and eateries. We?ve even seen it being played in streets outside McDonald?s restaurants."

9XM?s revolutionary presentation features only full-length, current hit Bollywood songs on a screen shared with irreverent graphics, animated characters and interactive viewer feedback. The channel in effect has created a new genre - non-stop Bollywood Music Entertainment - and packaged it in a uniquely youthful style. As a result it has also overtaken the audience share of the leading youth-oriented general entertainment channels in India and a number of niche players in other genres (see chart below).

Audience interactivity with the channel begins with on-screen SMS messaging via live quizzes and contests. "SMS traffic to the channel is averaging 25,000 messages each day", says Pettifer. "This high level of interactivity has also contributed to the channel taking on a life of its own on the Internet, with 9XM and its characters being adopted by numerous Orkut and other user-generated online communities," Pettifer added.

9XM?s avant-garde audiovisual experience (see screenshot below) features no VJ?s, no interviews, no news and no hype about itself. The animated characters who act as the channel?s "spokespeople" provide a stream of humorous interjections and asides that are fast becoming part of youth culture.

"Each song that makes it onto the 9XM playlist is there as the result of a thorough research process," said Vikas Varma, Head, Music Entertainment Channels at INX Media. "We sustain momentum through a continuous and live process of improvisation and animation to ensure that each song is never presented in the same way twice. We have created a space which has made Hindi music very cool to watch and listen to - the high ratings are proof of that," Verma added.

Advertising partners have a range of options, from traditional spot buys to messages and brand imagery that are carefully integrated into the on-screen experience.

Having established an unprecedented following among viewers since its launch, Pettifer is confident of continued growth. "The audience figures show that we?ve got our positioning right from the start.

We have deliberately not used conventional marketing to promote the channel and the 9XM brand. Instead we have let people discover it for themselves and this strategy clearly works," he concluded.

MUMBAI: Swar Sangram the music reality show on ETV-Marathi has raised a controversy-should a singer be versatile and sings all kinds of songs or stick to one?s own voice quality and sing only those kind of songs.

The same question has been raised repeatedly in all the Hindi music reality shows, but has hit the Marathi screen for the first time.

The show is in the continuation of another popular show aired on the same channel- Maze Jeevan Gaane.

The 12 contestants for Swar Sangram were selected by well known poets and music directors -Raam Laxman, Yeshwant Deo, Sriniwas Khale, Anil Mohile, Vandana Vitankar, Shantaram Nandgaonkar, Meena Mangeshkar Khadikar, Dashrath Pujari, Shridhar Phadke, Sudhir Moghe, Late Vasantrao Desai, Vithal Umap,.Ashok Patki and Mangesh Padgaonkar.

These personalities talked about their life?s musical journey and compositions, and their songs were presented by four up-coming, young talented singers. Other well known singers also spoke and rendered songs of these personalities. At the end of each episode the said personality chose one best singer from the four.

Swar Sangram is a singing competition between these selected 12 singers, this being the main difference between the regular singing contests and this show, that these singers are selected by the maker of the songs.

ETV claims that the competition will be different with each episode having a different theme - Republic Day, the golden era of Marathi music, classical, women?s day, Holi, albums , gazals, filmy masti, duets, regional songs, songs sung by non- Marathi singers, etc.

The eminent music based celebrities are called to judge on the sets like - Padmaja Pheneni, The first lady of Marathi films-Sulochanadidi , Prajakta Shukre, Swapnil Bandodkar, Aarti Anklikar etc along with the regular judges-Sadhana Sargam and up coming music director-Mayuresh Pai.

Music Personality Tyagraj Khadilkar is assigned the music mentor?s role. Another interesting concept being introduced here is that for the first time Marathi films are being promoted in such a show, with their teams becoming and becoming a part of the judging.

Films like Man Pakharu Pakharu, Mohini, Checkmate and Saaware Re have been promoted along with some of the top stars of the Marathi industry. The USP of this show is also that only the judges will decide the final winner and the SMS system will be applicable only for the last two episodes for the selection of the most popular singer- viewer?s choice.

These series have been shot in the picturesque Ramoji Film City on a huge set, never before seen on Marathi television, and conceived and directed by Madhavi Mutatkar.

The mega final of Swar Sangram will be telecast on the 12th of April. It is aired every Saturday at 9pm on ETV-Marathi.

To know more about all the controversy watch Swar Sangram this Saturday, 16 February at 9 pm only on ETV Marathi.

MUMBAI: The latest TAM ratings for Saturday, 2nd February 2008 have shown Star Majha - the leading 24x7 National News Channel in Marathi - as No.1 amongst all news channels in Hindi, English and Marathi with a market share of 19 % in the Maharashtra market*

Star Majha made its dominance felt by becoming the first channel to break the feud between Raj Thackeray and Amar Singh live on 2nd February. The coverage on Raj Thackeray‘s comments on Amitabh was seen at its peak with Amar Singh‘s response also coming in. The story was extensively covered from all aspects by Star Majha while all the other channels followed it.

Star Majha has emerged as the undisputed choice of Marathi news viewers by being No.1 for sixteen weeks** in a row with an average market share of 58%. In Marathi News universe, Star Majha has garnered a market share of 69% in the current week, thus surpassing competition by a huge margin***.

In a short span of 7 months Star Majha has introduced the audience to never before experienced formats and programs related to - politics, sports, entertainment, culture, education, career, real estate, religion, yoga, astrology, lifestyle based programs & reality shows among others. It is little wonder that these programs find themselves amongst the top programmes of the genre.

Dhentedeng - a program that gives you a peek into the business of cinema, from behind the scenes to the main scene, the romance, the dance, all the excitement and commotion of the film industry you wanted to know is packaged in a unique and colorful
program. Khel Majha - is your window into all the nerve wrecking action from the world of sports. Being the heart of Maharashtra, Mumbai would still portray an incomplete image of the state without the cultural inputs of Pune, Nasik, Aurangabad etc. which have grown into independent cities claiming their space under the sun - Star Majha presents this facet of the various cities of Maharashtra through Star City. Mumbai East West - is another such program which highlights the various exciting facets of Mumbai life.

When it comes to festivals and cultural events, Star Majha captured the excitement and fervor of the celebrations across the state, on occasions such as - Gokulashtami, Adesh Bandekar‘s Marathi Dandiya, Diwali, Pandarpur Yatra and Ganesh Chaturthi. Bappa Majha - a 15-day series of programming during Ganesh Chaturthi captured the essence of the popular festival in the state. In addition to the regular highlights, updates and Pandal coverage, this special series showcased activities like Aarti, Haldi - Kumkum, Music/ Bhajans and finally the Visarjan surrounding the spirit of the festival. To boost the excitement and add to the celebrations, Star Majha has also instituted contests. ‘Star Bappa Sarvottam Ganpati Spardha‘: is one such competition among the larger community pandals.

With the journalistic credentials of ABP and the TV pedigree of Star TV; Star Majha has for long been the channel of ideas, innovation and slick presentation. The right mix of news features and editorial coverage has seen Star Majha emerge as the winner of the news arena.