News Headline | Indian Television Dot Com

High fives for [V] Popstars' chosen ones

Apr 12, 2002

It was a countrywide search and a mega promotion that spread across all the channels in the Star Network, besides bot

CNN launches 'The Music Room'

Submitted by ITV Production on Apr 12, 2002

There‘s more music in the air. CNN International today announced the launch of a new weekly programme The Music Room.The show features some of the world‘s best musical talent, from unknowns to Grammy winners, performing live and explaining the inspiration behind their work, according to an official release.

Sponsored by Toyota, The Music Room features in-depth coverage of the world‘s leading artists and bands as well as a showcase of upcoming talent, joining artists on the road and in the studio while exploring their craft and inspirations, their plans and sometimes their frustrations, the release says.

The launch show of The Music Room features two of the divas of R&B, Nelly Furtado and Alicia Keys, as well as a visit to the New York home of Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty. International artists appearing on forthcoming shows in interviews or performing live in The Music Room studio include Moby, Michael Stipe, Hikaru Utada, Fatboy Slim, Natalie Imbruglia, Coldplay, Gorillaz, Manu Chao, The Strokes, No Doubt, Kylie Minogue, Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, Alanis Morissette, Ja Rule, and Usher.

The Music Room is a half-hour weekly show that airs at 7 pm on Sundays reachung 172 million households around the world, the release says. Regular features of the programme include a look at rising stars and emerging talent in ‘Breaking Through‘, coverage of music from around the world in the Global Beat!, and regular visits to the world of dance and electronic music with the Beat Club feature.

The show features charts from a number of countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia as well as covering the best of the new album releases and delves deeper into the music industry and issues such as copyright piracy, artists‘ relationships with record labels and the latest technology. The programme will also be visiting festivals around the world over the next few months, including the Caracas Pop Festival and the Winter Music Conference in Miami (the top gathering for DJs and dance music).

Anchoring The Music Room is 24-year-old Sasha Rionda, a Swiss Mexican who speaks Spanish, English, German and French. Prior to joining ‘The Music Room‘ in March 2002, Rionda was a correspondent for the Latin American network Cinecanal for whom she reported from New York and Las Vegas. She has also appeared as a guest host for the Wild On the Beach Australia program on the North American entertainment network E!

The Music Room is also backed by a dedicated website, www.CNN.com/themusicroom, featuring special articles on the artists appearing in the show, background information, biographies and program details.

CNN launches 'The Music Room'

Apr 12, 2002

There's more music in the air.

High fives for [V] Popstars' chosen ones

Submitted by ITV Production on Apr 12, 2002

News Headline

It was a countrywide search and a mega promotion that spread across all the channels in the Star Network, besides both print and public hoarding campaigns. Finally, after a 45-day, six-city search, Channel [V] announced yesterday its "chosen 5" to front the all girl Coke [V] Popstars band.

GIRL POWER: (From left) Pratichee Mohapatra, Seema Ramchandani, Neha Bhasim, Anushka Manchanda, Mahua Kamat.

The five girls who get a shot at fame as India‘s Spice Girls are Pratichee Mohapatra, Neha Bhasin, Mahua Kamat, Anushka Manchanda and Seema Ramchandani.

Future episodes of Coke Popstars the series will see the girls training in different areas like modulating their vocal chords, fine tuning their dance skills as well as a health and fitness regime. They will also undergo a complete makeover so that their looks fit their profile.

The name of the group is yet to be decided and model Noyonika Chatterji will manage the band.

They will spend several sessions in a studio recording their album, which is due for release sometime towards the end of May.

Javed Akhtar is writing the album lyrics and the music is being composed by eight music directors including Jatin Lalit and Sandeep Chowta, an official release states.

Their first live performance takes place in Mumbai on 26 April.

The Band:
Pratichee is a Mumbai girl, 24 years old. She has been trained in Hindustani Classical music for over six years.

Delhi girl Neha Bhasin, 19, is a second year student doing her Sociology honors. Her hobbies include dancing and writing songs.

Anushka, is all of 18 and ‘dead serious‘ about her career as a musician. She has had little formal training in music even though that did not stop her from learning to play several instruments like the piano, guitar, drums and at the moment she is trying to learn to play the flute!

Seema Ramchandani, 22, is from Pune and a postgraduate diploma holder in school psychology. She comes from a musically inclined family and likes all sorts of music from the romantic Kishore Kumar to the rocking Led Zeppelin.

Mahua Kamat, 20, from Pune and in her Second year B.Com, gave up a year to get into music. She has been training in Hindustani classical music for a very long time. She is greatly influenced by Alanis Morissette, the Cranberries, Tracy Chapman, Dido and lot of R&B, hip-hop, for their rhythmic beats.