Alisha Chinoy, Anu malik and Udit Narayan to host Indian Idol - 3

Indian Idol, the hugely popular adaptation of the blockbuster ‘Pop Idol’ format took the nation by storm in its very first season and followed that with an equally popular season 2.

While Indian Idol served as the ultimate platform for budding singers from across the nation, to realize their dreams the show went on to become the most entertaining and involving show to hit Indian television. In keeping with its philosophy of offering innovative and distinct content, Sony Entertainment Television, now announces the launch of the third series of this groundbreaking phenomenon, with an even bigger bang!

Indian Idol is a ‘made-for-television phenomenon’ that combines drama and reality with music, humour, thrill and glamour. The last two seasons of the show experienced a collage of emotions, raising levels of viewer frenzy and excitement coupled with the contestants’ tears and joys, heartbreak and jubilation, learnings and achievements. With its immense popularity, Indian Idol will continue to showcase exceptional talent on the nation’s biggest platform. The Indian Idol journey in search of - ‘Ek Awaaz Jispar Ho Desh Ko Naaz’ promises to become an integral part of the viewers’ lives drawing ardent support and a voting frenzy.

This year too, Indian Idol will give the people of this nation the opportunity to chase their dreams and the power to make one talented aspirant ‘Bharat Ki Shaan’. In addition to a recording contract with Sony BMG, the ‘Indian Idol’ will be awarded a contract with Sony Entertainment Television worth Rupees One Crore, thus catapulting him/her to unparalleled stardom, fame and fortune.

Highlighting the essence of this worldwide phenomenon, geared to hit India once more, Albert Almeida, Executive Vice President & Business Head, Sony Entertainment Television, said, “As witnessed in the last two seasons of Indian Idol the third season too promises to take viewer engagement and interactivity to even greater heights while catapulting the Indian Idol into ultimate stardom. This year too, the channel will give talented singers from across the nation the platform to realize their dreams and put fame and fortune within their reach while offering distinctive and breakthrough entertainment.”

The new series will witness two new judges; Alisha Chinai better known as the ‘Kajra Re’ girl, who made the nation dance to her tune with this chartbuster. She is one of the pioneers of pop music in India. Her album ‘Made in India’ created history and ushered new trends in pop music thereafter.

Our second judge, is an extremely talented male playback singer who is known for his silken voice. Udit Narayan not only sings in thirty languages but also has been acclaimed for every kind of melody – be it soulful, romantic, fast-paced and recently, even pop. He is known for his versatile tone, which appears to flawlessly suit every Indian hero on screen today. With 3 National awards and scores of other awards to his credit, Udit Narayan possesses one of the largest arrays of hit songs in the industry.

Last but not the least our third judge, Anu Maliik is one of the most successful and multi-talented music directors of today. His straight talking coupled with his ‘singing shayari comments’ has always managed to keep the contestants at ease, making him one of the most talked about judges of Indian Idol. Together they are all set on a journey to ultimately find that ‘Woh Ek Awaaz Jispar Ho Desh Ko Naaz’.

Commenting on the new judges, Sandiip Sikcand, Chief Creative Director, Sony Entertainment Television, said, “Indian Idol aims to showcase the biggest singing talent from across the nation in the most entertaining and involving manner. This season, the focus of the judges would be to help us find that “One Voice” that will be the pride of the nation. Indian Idol third season will offer a combination of great singing talent and entertainment for our viewers.”

Talking of the anchors, the third season of Indian Idol presents a new face – the dashing actor Hussain Khuwajirwala. Young and talented with a huge fan following, also known for his dancing skills and histrionics, he will be able to connect with the 16–30 year old contestants and at the same engage the viewers.

On the other hand Mini Mathur is the continuing factor on the show. She has earned viewers’ trust by being a close confidante of the contestants over the last two seasons. Her bubbly and vivacious nature not only helps her build a strong bond with the contestants, but with the viewers too.

To bring to the viewers the best singing talent from across the country, auditions are held in 12 cities— Jodhpur – Bhubaneshwar (Feb 15th), Hyderabad- Amritsar (Feb 18th), Srinagar- Nagpur (Feb 21st), Baroda (Feb 27th & 28th), Bhopal (March 7th & 8th), Kanpur (March 12th & 13th), Delhi (March 17th, 18th & 19th), Kolkata (March 24th, 25th & 26th), Mumbai (March 31st, 1st & 2nd April)

To make participation universal and allow easy registration the channel has set up multiple gateways. Budding aspirants between the ages of 16-30 can realize their dreams by calling to register for a place in any of the above audition centers. The following are the numbers for registration:

• SMS Idol to 2525
• Call 5052525 and say Idol (available only on select networks)
• Dial 1255525 (BSNL landline & mobile users which is applicable to all cities)