18 Feb 2017  |   11:28pm IST

Come meet the Junior Herald Rockstars!

The finals of Junior Herald Rockstars, a novel event platform that showcases talent whilst celebrating the bond between the parent and the child, is taking place today. Café has the details

Team Café

They say that the main predictor of how well a child will do in school and in life, is the strength of the relationship they have with their parent or primary caregiver. This relationship impacts the child’s future mental, physical, social, and emotional health. It is not founded on quality of care or parental love, but on the non-verbal emotional communication between child and parent known as the attachment bond. It is this very bond that Herald recognises and wishes to celebrate in the form of Junior Herald Rockstars that is taking place today at 6 pm at Kala Academy Open Air Auditorium, Panjim.

Children are known to be great learners. As the young brains are in the process of development,  it make it immensely conducive for the child to learn newer things – be it a new language, an art form, a new skill or anything that piques the mind of these young geniuses. At the same time, the parents, who go to any extent to protect their little ones, more often than not, neglect their own art/hobby interests in the process. The idea behind Junior Herald Rockstars is to bring the family together and showcase their talent. The list of finalists features interesting participants like, a 4-year old drummer, a magic act by a father and son, soulful singers, a couple of acting skits and much more.

Neeta Mhapne from Taleigao is overjoyed at the opportunity of performing with her son, Vedant. The audience will see Vedant sing the popular song ‘Bulleya’ (‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’), while Neeta will match her dance steps with her son’s song. Neeta says, “I feel that this is a very good opportunity that Herald is giving us parents, to perform with our children. It allows us to spend quality time with our children while also allowing the parents to showcase their hidden talents that are usually not known to their friends or family members. I hope similar events will be also held in future.”

While the Mhapne family is busy rehearsing their act, the mother-daughter duo of Claudia Vaz and Abigail de Silva is busy preparing for their performance. The duo is going to be performing a Broadway musical from the 1965 classic film ‘The Sound of Music’ that starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. Claudia and Abigail are going to recreate the magic of one of the songs of the film, ‘Do-Re-Mi’ by singing in different voice modulations.

Musician Neil D’Cruz from Carmona has been performing for the last 20 years but his most nervous moment, he says, was sharing the stage with his four-year-old son, Dwane. “I loved the concept of Junior Herald Rockstars. As a father, I got to perform with my son for the first time in front of an audience and I was so nervous. I got Dwane the drum set when he was just 18 months old. After playing my gigs, I often tell him to join us on stage and play in front of people, thereby building his confidence. For the auditions, we performed ‘What’s Up’ by Four Non Blondes. For the finals, we plan to perform, ‘You Raise Me Up’ and ‘Maria Pitache’,” says Neil. Surprisingly, Dwane has taught himself to play the drums and is keen on learning the guitar next, much to the excitement of his parents, Neil and Donavia.

Fashion designer Melvyn Noronha is one of the five judges for the finals. He says, “Junior Herald Family Rockstars is a wonderful platform. On judging the Margao audition, I have observed so many high potential talents and I have encouraged them to push their performances towards upgrading before the finals. Goa has got talent and I want this platform to grow over the years and produce high quality, adorable and Internet-sensation-worthy performances, because I believe Goans can do it with practice, humility and hardwork.”

The event has free entry and is open to all.