400 Delhi children participate in Disney's pop star contest

Gurgaon, May 25 (IANS) More than 400 aspiring teen pop stars crooned and danced on stage as part of auditions for Disney Channel's music talent show "Hannah Montana - The Big Pop Star Dream' at a mall here.

The contest was held at the MGF Mega City Mall in Gurgaon Saturday evening.

The teens sang and danced to the beats of hit Bollywood numbers and songs from Disney Channel's Original movies - "High School Musical" and "High School Musical 2".

The MGF Mega City, a sprawling shopping mall in the satellite township near New Delhi, was packed to capacity. The children aged between 7 to 12 wore make up and were given props to perform on the stage decked up like a concert space - complete with strobe lights and smoke screens.

The Hannah Montana show, one of the highest rated shows on Disney Channel with the largest viewership in the age group of 7-16, is about an ordinary not-so-good looking girl Miley Stuart in Malibu, California, who goes to school during the day and gets a makeover as pop star Hannah Montana at night. She lives with her brother and widowed father, Robby, a song-writer. No one in college knows that she is Hannah Montana. It is a musical with a fairy tale plot.

A statement by Disney Channel said nearly 100,000 children had registered for the talent hunt show in four cities - Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Altogether, 1,600 aspiring pop idols will be handpicked from four cities, of whom four will be selected for the clinching round. The first round has been held in Kolkata. The auditions, recorded by the Disney team, will be screened by Anoushka Manchanda of the all-women's pop group, Viva.

The channel will fly the four semi-finalists to Mumbai to give them a complete Hannah Montana makeover and record the Hannah Montana title track in Hindi. The vignettes of these four semi finalists' performances will then be aired on Disney Channel for an audience poll to select the Big Indian Pop Star.

"We want Indian kids to get a feel of the real Hannah Montana show. It allows Indian children to get an opportunity to express themselves and pursue their dreams. I am thrilled that so many children in India emulate Hannah Montana," Antione Villeneuve, senior vice-president and managing director, Walt Disney Television International, said.

One lucky fan among the Disney Channel viewers who participates in the voting to select the final winner, will also win a chance to accompany the contest winner to meet Hannah Montana in the US.

Copyright  IANS

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