Venkat Raman
Saturday, October 12, 2019 will be one of the busiest days for Aucklanders with several events on the cards, one of the most awaited of which would be the Grand Finale of Tamil Karaoke Star 2019.
The Programme will be held on that day at Zeal West, located at 20 Alderman Drive in the West Auckland suburb of Henderson.
Performers, Tickets
Five contestants drawn from three countries will vie for the title at the Programme, set to begin at 630 pm with an opening dance by Divya Ramachandran of Toronto, Canada.
The Finalists are New Zealanders Shankar (Rotorua), Deepika Sundar (Wellington), Aswathy Sasidharan (Hamilton), Ramya Ramachandran (Toronto, Canada) and Thayashne Arumugam (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).
Tickets for the event can be purchased at S S Supermarket (578, Sandringham Road, Sandringham) and Smart Deal Bazaar (36, Stoddard Road, Mount Roskill) in Auckland.
Online at https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/tamil-karaoke-star-2019-tickets-72168023501
Encouraging response
Organiser Yugendran Vasudevan of Rambutan Media Works said that the Contest listed participants from Australia, Canada, France, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom and United States of America.
“Contestants submitted their Karaoke format singing videos by email and a panel of three judges shortlisted 16 singers from the pool of hundreds of participants. Of the 16 quarterfinalists, nine were qualified for the semi-finals and top five were selected for the finals,” he said.
Mr Yugendran said that the winner will receive $1000 cash and other prizes.
“Most importantly, the winner will perform with a couple of the judges on stage,” he 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.
