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 Awesome.
That about sums up the scale of the plans the Star Group
has charted out to take Channel [V] to the top of the music
heap. Star India, in partnership with the Times Group, today
announced the launch of the glam-reality show [V] Popstars
involving the search for and finally, presentation and
promotion of, the first all-girls band in the Indipop market.
An
indication of the importance that Star is giving to this
initiative can be gauged by the fact that Star chairman
James Murdoch was present in Mumbai for the launch announcement.
Murdoch does appear to have a special interest in [V]'s
fortunes so the channel's future moves should be worth watching.
The
"talent search of epic proportions spanning the country",
as Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea puts it, will select five
girls from thousands of hopefuls from six cities, train
and groom them for two months in Mumbai, before launching
them with an album and a live stage performance. The series
will go behind the scenes through various stages of the
transition, the naming of the band, the glamour makeover
to the creation of the album and the launch concert.
Sushma Reddy |
Mukerjea,
who has secured the tie-up with indiatimes.com for promotions
and marketing, says [V] Popstars will be a fly on
the wall docudrama that follows the lives of the five girls
as they train and prepare for the big launch. A 14-episode
series on Channel [V] will track each move. The Star network
will simulcast the launch of [V] Popstars in mid-January
2002 on five of its channels (Star Plus, Star World, Star
Movies, Star Gold and Channel [V]), has acquired the rights
of this popular reality show from the UK based Sportsworld
Media Group.
On
the heels of the success of the Indian version of Who
wants to be a millionaire? - Kaun Banega Crorepati? - Star
is hoping to recreate the triumph of the reality series
that hit a chord with viewers in UK, Australia and Canada
where it has already been held. The channel, which has been
unable to match the success of flagship channel Star Plus
over its rivals, is now pulling all the stops to make [V]
Popstars a big 'un.
Sandeep
Chowta |
Roped
in is an impressive jury comprising singer Shubha Mudgal,
designer Manish Malhotra and composer Sandeep Chowta. Also
on the jury is Channel [V] presenter Sushma Reddy. Celebrities
like the musical troika of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, lyricist
Javed Akhtar and composer duo Jatin Lalit will be on hand
to back the jury up. Channel [V] has even convinced celebrity
author-columnist Shobhaa De who will be in on the final
selection.
Javed
Akhtar |
Announcing
the catchphrase of the show Kiska Band Bajega?, Murdoch
said the six- month long drama would be stretched over the
entire Star network and Bennett & Coleman concerns like
Times Music, Planet M and indiatimes.com. "It's a first
for Indian music television, and I doubt any other alliance
could have pulled it off," he remarked.
Bennett
Coleman president Arun Arora, also present on the occasion,
said that the launch of the show marks a moment of positive
growth for Indian television, when the strength of individual
talent will be given a voice with the backing of two vibrant
media houses.
Manish
Malhotra |
Responding
to media queries, Star's senior V-P, head of content & communication
Sameer Nair said that the selection of an all girls band
this year would be followed with an all boys band next year.
The following years will see the selection of mixed groups
via Popstars.
In
other countries, Popstars has been able to catapult
the bands it promoted to the top of the chartbusters. Bardot
in Australia, HearSay in the UK and Sugar Jones in Canada
have all been Popstars products. The series is currently
underway in the US.
Photos courtesy - www.indiatimes.com, www.b4utv.com, www.evesindia.com
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