‘Indian Idol 6’ begins with auditions in Delhi, other cities

NEW DELHI: The countdown to the sixth edition of the popular music reality show ‘Indian Idol’ has begun with the kickstarting of the process of countrywide auditions from the Capital city of Delhi. The auditions of ‘Indian Idol 6’, where prolifi c playback singer Sunidhi Chauhan and music directors Salim Merchant and Anu Malik will choose the voice that will touch a million hearts, were held in the Capital city this weekend. The Delhi audition marked the beginning of the auditioning process which will then move to the other cities of Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Aurangabad and Mumbai. While the Lucknow auditions will be held on April 5, the auditions at Ahmedabad will be held on April 9, Rajkot on April 15, Aurangabad on April 22 followed by Mumbai on May 18 and 19, which will mark the culmination of the auditions. The auditions will also have Mini Mathur and Hussain Kuwajerwala to anchor the audition rounds. Offi - cials at Sony Entertainment network said there has been tremendous response to the auditions from across the country. Over 1.5 lakh people have registered themselves through SMSes and online, ever since the registration process opened. “The response has been phenomenal from every nook and corner of India,” they said. For the past fi ve years, this hugely popular adaptation of the blockbuster ‘Pop Idol’ format has served as an ultimate platform for budding singers from across the nation. The previous editions of the singing reality show have brought into the limelight many talented singers like Abhijit Sawant, Rahul Vaidya, Prajakta Shukre, Sandeep Acharya, Amey Date, Prashant Tamang, Amit Paul, Sourabhee Debbarma, Torsha Sarkar and Sreeramchandra Mynampati. ‘Indian Idol 6’ is produced by the format owners FremantleMedia. Indian Idol started airing in India with the fi rst season in 2004-2005, followed that with second (2005-2006), third (2007), fourth (2008- 2009) seasons and fi fth in February 2010.