The 'diversity' show

It's the first time that I participated in the Colorado Springs Cultural Diversity show. I did not know that there would be a big crowd and a floating crowd of around 5000...Booths, volunteers, performers, kids - it looked like a festival. Car parking was not at all easy although I went with my co-participants in one of their cars. When we entered, there was some African dance that was going on. Then there was a song by a very small girl. Once that got over, it was the Indian community's turn which started with a classical Bharatanatyam dance by kids. Believe me, although there were performers from different countries, with the outfits and the expressions, the Indian community performance stole the show. After the Bharatanatyam performance, there was a 'Krishna Jayanthi' dance by high school kids. They looked charming and so as their dance with the bamboo attempt. Then came our performance for 'Jai Ho'. It always happens to me that my heart pounds fast till I enter the stage but once I enter, I dont know where I will get the energy and excitement. I did forget one step and did something else but people said it was not noticeable and we were the only ones on the entire show who got 2 rounds of applause :) This is the first time I put a thilak on my forehead to depict 'Jai ho' and I loved it. After our performance, there were lots of other performances but I loved two of them - One is the ballet dance and the Taekwando show by the US group. It was amazing! Overall, I enjoyed performing as well as watching others perform. A good experience!!!

'Dance' season...

It's been more than 6 months since I danced and now it's the season. Starting with a diversity show and then Diwali and much more on the cards :) Although I am not a great dancer and been doing the same styles so far, it was quite a surprise when I got introduced to salsa and hiphop steps during the practise yesterday...I was trying hard to get into the groove :) It's for a fusion of 'Jai ho' which has both the Hindi and English mix. Before I put efforts to remember the steps, this has been my strategy - Listening to the song as many times as I can which would help me to tune myself to the step...And dancing is a great workout...See, I've got a good reason to dance :) Let's see how it goes...

The 'fantabulous' finals...

I don't know if the title is well justified but that's how it is being called by the anchors of 'Airtel Super Singer 2008'. I did not watch last week's mokkai episode but at the same time did not want to miss the finals as I have been in this 'looonnnggg' journey with the contestants but as a spectator ;) I am not a great fan of 'Old is Gold' type songs but did watch the entire episode to see how each one of the contestant perfoms. And my views here...

I am not going to repeat what judges said :) In the order of my favourite performances today:
1. 'Unnidam mayangugiren' - by Ajeesh. I loved Ajeesh's voice and whenever he said 'En arumai kaadhalile(an improvisation here at the end)', it was great. But I am not sure if it comes like mayangu+giren as Ajeesh sang. I thought it should have been sung as a single word...Anyways, I voted for him. The one title that I would give him is 'Man of improvisation'
2. Ravi - It was a clean performance and as I have always seen, he emoted so much that he sunk into the song. The one title I would give him is 'Mr Versatile' as he can even do great rap songs like the one he did on 'Karka 'Karka' from Vettaiyadu Vilayadu
3. Ranjani - To me, she has emerged as a talented singer. She delivered what was expected and the one title that I would give to her is 'Ms. Nightingale' as she has a very sweet voice :)
4. Renu - Among the stage show singers whom I have watched so far, my top favourite is Renu for one main thing called 'the diction' which is one area that most of the singers failed to prove and even slip at times. Although I did not vote for her this time and the last time and she may or may not win the title of the show, I'll be a big fan of her always. Her performance cannot be categorized into 'Wow' group today and hence she is in the bottom two on my list. My title for her would be 'Woman of diction'
5. Prasanna - His performance today was just normal. I cannot even say 'Great' or 'Good' but it was OK. My title to Prasanna is going to be 'Mr Perfomer' since he can just pull out the crowd and make them dance to his tunes :)

And on tomorrow's performance trailer which was shown, I am actually excited to know that those songs to be sung tomorrow are my favorites especially 'Uyirile' (Vellithirai) and 'Engirundhu Vandhayada' (5 star) but I don't think I know the song that Prasanna is about to sing...

And with 'Makkal theerpe Mahesan theerpu' as a verdict criteria, the title winner to be chosen by the people could come as a surprise...you never know who is going to be crowned.

M.T.R...

This is not a recipe for a MTR Gulab Jamun :) I was talking to my friend yesterday and he introduced me to this show called 'Roadies' which comes on MTV. Although he told me the plot line, I was curious enough to watch the show to know the reason behind its popularity. A gist of what lines were exactly going on my head when I was watching the March episode of it:

Palomi - Jeez, who gave her the right to talk? She's very irritating...
Palak - I wish this girl gets eliminated soon...Palomi is far better than this
Natasha - Hmmm....now I know why guys watch this and there exists a huge fan club for this hottie chic :) But, she looks like a 'narikurathi' in some angle
Numan - Model maadhiri pose kudutha mattum podhadhu, edhachum pannanum
Sufi - Ha..this guy resembles Aarya...So, no comments ;)
Aussie models - I wonder how MTV can come with such amazinnngg ideas making Aussie models pose for a game show to reveal the 6 letter word from the water splashed on them, out of a pool...

A must watch show, if you are still interested after reading this.