16 Aug 2018  |   05:31am IST

The winners take it all

It was a moment of joy and achievement for young talent in Goa when the winners of the sixth edition of Goencho Avaz were declared after the Margao finale. Coming from different parts of Goa, the participants had put in their best efforts for the Goan audience. Café speaks to the winners of the solo and duet singing competition

Dolcy D’Cruz

Over the years, Goencho Avaz, the annual solo

and duet Konkani singing competition organised by Herald Group, has become one of the most sought after hubs of singing talent in Goa. Every year, participants from different parts of Goa look forward to getting the opportunity to perform on this grand stage and kickstart their musical journey in Goa. After this year’s competition, the best were selected as the winners.

Naisa Lotlekar is the winner of Goencho Avaz solo competition. A first year Bachelor of Arts student with Bachelor of Education at Vidya Prabodhini College of Commerce, Education, Computer and Management, Porvorim, this was the third solo singing competition that she participated in since she started singing Konkani songs in April this year. “I have been following Goencho Avaz for quite some time now and have seen Cielda, Classy and Rhea win the competition. It was my mother’s dream to see me perform on this stage and I have made her proud by winning the competition. Both my parents, Lonna and Sanjay Lotlekar, are very supportive and it is a big dream to win it. I sang ‘Sobit Rupnnem’ by Annett Pinto. Though looking at the crowd from backstage was nerve-racking but once I was on stage, I owned it,” says Naisa, who is also a part of the wedding choir, Mystical Rose.

It was a double victory for Ryan Borges as he won the second prize for the solo competition as well as the first place along with Nicia Gomes for the Goencho Avaz duet competition. A full time musician, he thanks God for his win as well as his friends for encouraging him to participate in the competition. Coming from Cansaulim, Ryan, son of Joao Francisco and Rosa Piedade, makes it a point to play the keyboard for the church choir every morning. He is also part of the band, The Strikers, and the orchestra, The Showmakers Live. “When it comes to singing for boys, there are no variations in the songs and it is difficult to compete with the girls. I selected the Mohammed Rafi song ‘Maria’, which has the voice of Lorna. I sang the entire song as well as Lorna’s voice in falsetto, which made my voice stand out. For the duet, we sang ‘Oh Baby, I love You’ for the finals. It was the first time in a competition. Nicia and I were very nervous for our auditions but we got a standing ovation, which built up our confidence,” says Ryan, who is part of the Cansaulim church choir along with Nicia.

Kaushami Pai Fondekar won the third prize for the solo competition. Based in Mumbai and working as an animator, Kaushami travelled to Goa for every round of the competition. She studied Animation at Symbiosis College, Pune and is very fond of singing in English, Hindi, Konkani, Marathi and Spanish. “My friends in Goa informed me about Goencho Avaz and encouraged me to give an audition. I was happy to get selected for the next round and finally making my way to the finals. Previously, I had participated in singing competitions at Sarawat Festival and Melodious Voice of Goa, Curtorim and also won the first place at the India Fest in Pune,” says Kaushami, daughter of Sandhya and Vaicunth from Aquem, Margao.

Aviella D’Souza, daughter of Agnelo and Evon, is originally from Candolim and has been singing regularly for Konkani tiatrs and musical shows in Dubai, where she is based with her parents. She teamed up with Cipriano D’Souza, her neighbour in Candolim, who is also known for singing in Konkani tiatrs in Goa. Their duet, ‘Agent Fottkiri’, won the second place at the competition. “The song was originally sung by Alfred and Rita Rose and we were not prepared. It was a last minute decision to participate in the competition as a duet. We sang ‘Tu Mhojem Sukh’ for the semi final round and for the finals we wanted a classic iconic song that would attract the attention of the audience. ‘Agent Fottkiri’ has a good melody and gives both the singers equal opportunity in terms of lines. This song was a conversation taking place on stage,” says Aviella, who also participated in the solo competition.

Shewyn Fernandes and Kimberley Cota won the third place in the duet competition. They wooed the audience with the Lorna-Seby hit ‘O Mia Caro’ for the finals. Their friendship goes back to their higher secondary school days and both are equally happy to win the competition. While Shewyn is from Cansaulim and a third year student at the Goa Engineering College, Kimberley is from Betalbatim. “We have been classmates since our higher secondary school days and we both used to take part in several inter college singing competitions. We wanted to sing a song that we both could enjoy performing. We discussed song selection for over two days, browsing the internet searching for the song. I love listening to Lorna and so we decided to sing ‘O Mia Caro’. The finals were in the same week as my exams and we hardly had any time for practice. I answered my theory examination of one paper on the day of the finals but I am very happy to be one of the winners of the competition,” says Kimberley, who is studying in the third year of Occupational Therapy at Goa Medical College, Bambolim.