Tamil Karaoke Star 2019 Finalists announced

Venkat Raman

Five singers from three countries are featured as Finalists in the ‘Tamil Karaoke Star 2019,’ a maiden venture by the Auckland based Rambutan Media Works New Zealand Limited.

Director Yugendran said that three participants from New Zealand and one each from Canada and Malaysia will vie for the Winner’s Title in the Finals to be held next month.

“The venue, date, time and other details for the September event will be announced shortly,” he said.

A Panel of Judges including Devan Ekambaram, Rajhesh Vaidhya and Yugendran Vasudevan are evaluating the entries.

About the Competition

Stated to be the first of its kind, ‘Tamil Karaoke Star 2019’ is an online international singing competition evincing the interest of singing talent from across the Continents.

Participants in the Contest include proven and budding singers from Australia, Canada, France, Malaysia, New Zealand Singapore, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom and Unites States of America. They submitted their performances in a Karaoke Video format by email.

“The winner will receive NZ$ 1000 cash and other prizes. More importantly, the winner will perform with a couple of the judges on stage,” Mr Yugendran said.

About Rambutan Media Works

Rambutan Media Works has been functioning as an accredited company in Singapore for the past ten years and established its presence in Auckland recently as ‘Rambutan Media Works New Zealand Limited.’

Mr Yugendran said that the Company plans to produce films in New Zealand in collaboration with local production houses.

“Rambutan Media Works New Zealand is conducting this event to reach out to the wider Indian community living in New Zealand and Australia,” he said.

Among the supporters of this Project are Kabeer Mohamed (Brightlane), Ilango Krishnamoorthy (New Zealand Hindu Temple Society Inc), Suresh Ramadoss (Harcourts), L D Kumar (Papadums) and Media Partner Indian Newslink.

Venkat Prabhu

Venkat Kumar is the son of popular lyricist, composer and singer Gangai Amaren and nephew of internationally known music maestro Ilayaraja.

He has been involved in the Tamil film industry as a producer, director, actor and playback singer for more than 15 years, although he got his first break with ‘Chennai 600028’ released in 2007. His other box-office hits were ‘Saroja’ (2008), ‘Mankatha’ (2011), ‘Biriyani’ (2013) and ‘Masss’ (2015). (2008), Goa (2010), Mankatha (2011), Biriyani (2013) and Masss (2015).

Rajhesh Vaidhya

A highly proficient and much-admired Veena player, Rajhesh Vaidhya is equally well-known for his performances with many music composers including Vidyasagar, Harris Jayaraj, Bharathwaj, Deva, Devi Sri Prasad, Srikanth Deva and Ilayaraja.

He acted in ‘Viswa Thulasi,’ a Tamil film and ‘Premi,’ a tele-serial. He composed music for ‘Vegam,’ a Tamil film produced by produced by famous comedian S Ve Shekher, his brother-in-law. He was honoured with the coveted ‘Kalaimamani’ Award for his expertise in 2010. Jayaraj, Bharathwaj, Deva, Devi Sri Prasad, Srikanth Deva, Ilayaraja and A R Rahman.

Devan Ekambaram

Devan Ekambaram is an Indian American film playback singer, actor and composer.

He began his career as a playback singer in Tamil films and later branched out to Telugu, and Kannada and has sung for over 500 films.

Devan pursued his higher school studies at the Freehold Township High School, New Jersey.

He began his singing career in the year 1999, and his maiden song ‘O Maria’ for Tamil film ‘Kadhalar Dhinam’ performed with Yugendran was a hit.

Yugendran Vasudevan

Yugendran Vasudevan has hundreds of songs to his credit in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam and has experience as a Music Director and Programme Host.

Yugendran performed at the launch of ‘Swarna Oli’ a Radio Station in Sri Lanka in 1999, where he met his wife, Hayma Malini, a popular RJ host.

“Rambutan Media Works New Zealand Limited will be conducting another International music composers contest soon. We will be collaborating with a popular record label in India,” Mr Yugendran said.