JOIN USThe name of 25-year-old Sreeram was announced by megastar Amitabh Bachchan at the Grand Finale held at Filmistan Studio.
The winner gets Rs 50 lakh cash prize, a bike, a car, one-year contract with Sony TV and chance to sing in one of the forthcoming movies of Yashraj Films.Bachchan said he watched 'Indian Idol' since the selection process because his wife Jaya loved the show.
"It is very difficult to satisfy her because she has very strong likes and dislikes. Since she followed this programme, I followed suit," he quipped.
Sreeram has already recorded a song with Shreya Ghoshal for an upcoming movie, music of which has been composed by Sandip-Suleman.The earlier winners of the show were Abhijeet Sawant, Sandeep Acharya, Prashant Tamang and Sourabhee Debbarma.
An elated Sreeram thanked all those who wished for his victory and voted for him. He said he felt that his responsibility grew after winning the title.
The 24-year-old said Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar had been his idols and he liked Shankar Mahadevan too. "A R Rahman had also been an important personality... He is our international representative today, he has taken India to another level...I get inspiration from all these people."
He said he wants to be a "versatile" singer."A versatile singer can sing all kinds of song and obviously his voice suits each and every hero," he said.Sreeram's home at Bowenpally in Secunderabad wore a festive look as family members, friends and neighbours celebrated his victory.
"We knew that he is going to win. He has been performing consistently well. This is the result of effort of the entire Andhra Pradesh. Lakhs of people have sent SMSes for his victory," his sister Archana said.
Telugu news channels, Telugu film stars and other celebrates have been appealing to the people to send SMSes for Sreeram, an engineering graduate and a trained classical singer.He has won several singing competitions organised by regional channels and sung for a few Telugu films.