Goencho Avaz, the fifth edition of the renowned Konkani singing competition by
Herald Group and Ulhas Jewellers will be organising its Panjim finals on August
6, 2018 at Kala Academy, Panjim at 6:30pm as the audience is eager to hear the
new voices that will be making their debut on one of Goa’s biggest stages. This
year, the finals will see the participation of 18 solo singers and seven pairs
of duet singers. The participants were shortlisted from the auditions that were
held at Quepem, Margao, Panjim, Ponda and Vasco. After the final selection at
the semi-finals, the finalists are now all set to take the stage with the
perfect performance of their solos and duets in Konkani.
The Goencho Avaz participants will be performing to the music of
Roy Menezes and his troupe for the finals at Panjim and Margao. The band
comprises James Vaz on keyboard, Wilbur Rebelo on bass guitar, Rousseau
Fernandes on lead guitar, Jack Rebello on drums, Theodor Alvares on trumpet,
Senon Silvestre DeSouza and Roy Menezes on tenor saxophone. The sound is by PD
Sound while the décor is by Dias Decorators and M Electronics. The show will be
compered by Agnelo de Borim and Elaine Pinto.
Besides the onstage performance, the online voting contest for
‘Goencho Avaz – Popular Contestant’ is being organised by Ulhas Jewellers on
its Facebook page. The count will be based on the cumulative results recorded
on the system. The participant with the highest number of collective likes,
hearts and wow icons from each category (solo and duet) will win the title
‘Goencho Avaz – Popular Contestant’. The purpose of the title is to encourage
families, friends, college mates and people from each village to come forward
to cheer for and encourage the contestants as they prepare for the finals. It
also gives participants the opportunity to handle public exposure on social
media in addition to having good talent. The contest is open to the public for
a limited time period to vote online for the title of ‘Goencho Avaz – Popular
Contestant’ and will end on the morning of August 9, after which, the system
will automatically lock access to all videos and votes will be counted.
Clifford Pereira from Cortalim and Malonza Barretto from
Chinchinin will be performing ‘Xitulem ani Pandurang’, a song originally sung
by Alfred and Rita Rose. The duo was introduced about two months back by Fr
Blair Fernandes and they have been rigorously training for their performances.
Clifford is a civil engineer from Panjim and Malonza is a third year Bachelor
of Arts student at Parvatibai Chowgule College of Arts and Science, Margao.
“This is the first time I will be stepping onto such a big stage and I want it
to be perfect. We are very excited and are still practising our choreography as
the overall presentation of the entire song is important,” says Clifford.
After performing as a musician for various tiatrs, Elton Simoes
from Morjim will be finally singing on stage for the first time at Goencho
Avaz. A post graduate in Psychology, Elton has been performing as a one man
band as well as freelancing for tiatrs directed by Alexin de Morjim and
Tomazinho Cardozo. “Musicians who perform for tiatrs are always seated below
the stage and this is a huge moment for me as I now sing on stage. I have been
singing songs in different languages for the shows and composing songs for
special occasions but singing in Konkani is a proud feeling,” says this
multi-instrumentalist who will be singing ‘Kombi, Bohddi, Mazor’ by M Boyer.
Based in Dubai, Aviella D’Souza is originally from Candolim and
takes great pride in singing in her mother tongue, Konkani. Daughter of Agnelo
and Ivon, the love of singing in Konkani was inculcated by her grandfather,
noted tiatrist Peter Celestino D’Souza from Saipem, Candolim. She has been
singing in Konkani tiatrs and musical shows, including World Goa Day in the
United Arab Emirates, for the last ten years. “I was the first child artiste to
sing in tiatrs in Konkani in the UAE and I have been singing after making my
debut in Comedian Augustine’s tiatr in Dubai. I also performed at Sangodd at
Candolim on June 29, 2018,” says Aviella, who has been trained in singing by
Remmie Fernandes, who is known by his stage name, Young Ferns. For her final
performance, Aviella will be singing ‘Mog’ by June Gracias.
The
winners of Goencho Avaz will be announced at the Mega Finals, which will be
held on August 11, 2018 at 6:30pm at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao.
