Another reality-cum-talent hunt show ‘Voice of Karnataka’  is being telecast on ETV Kannada.

On the occasion of Republic Day this year, ETV Kannada began a brand-new show 'Airtel Voice of Karnataka' on primetime. Another reality-cum-talent hunt show ‘Voice of Karnataka’ aims to train raw talent in all the aspects of music as a special 'gift to the Kannada music world'. To achieve this end, the producers divided the State into different zones viz., Karavali (Mangalore), Kalyana (Raichur), Sahyadri (Hassan), Kittoor (Hubli), Veera (Bellary), Pachche (Mysore), Bayalu (Davanagere) and Udyana (Bangalore) Karnataka. Auditions were held in these places for singers aged between 16 and 20 years with minimum knowledge of music.

First round

The first round of audition was through calls to sponsors Airtel for a period of three weeks. This was followed by ground auditions at the eight above mentioned places where in a panel of four judges -- Shankar Shanbhag, Sundar Murthy, B V Srinivas and Venugopal Raju -- tested the talent of the aspirants. 

Finalists

The second round of auditions were held in Bangalore and ultimately eight finalists were chosen. They are Tejaswini Malagi from Hubli, Pallavi K from Raichur, Ananya Bhagath from Hassan, Sandhya P R from Mangalore, Rakesh N R from Bangalore, Anjali Bhat from Mysore, Leela Hoogar from Bellary and A V Bhargav from Davangere.

The eight finalists have undergone rigorous training in different genres of music from stalwarts like  C Ashwath (Sugama Sangeetha), Pitchalli Srinivas (folk music), Pandit Nagarajrao Havaldar (light classical music), Deva (songs composed by him for films), Rajan (songs composed by him for films), Hamsalekha (songs composed by him for films) and Praveen Godkhindi (fusion music).

A permanent panel of four judges— Jayant Kaikini, Praveen Godkhindi, B V Srinivas and Shivu— will judge the talent of these eight finalists.  The show is telecast every Saturday evening between 8.30 and 9.30 pm.