MUMBAI: There are reality shows and then there are reality shows. This one’s about celebrating differently-abled people and showcasing their talents to the rest of the world.
Already on air, Champions will be telecast in all four South Indian languages - Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada on the respective Sun GECs including Sun TV, Gemini TV, Surya TV and Udaya TV.
The one-hour show will have four rounds where differently-abled people will display their talents such as singing, dancing, pantomime, martial arts, stand-up comedy, acrobatics, gymnastics and magic among others. Every second of every round will have a monetary value attached to it so that participants will take home some prize money, no matter which stage of the show they get eliminated at.
Produced in-house, Champions has Aldam Jacob as its creative director along with individual directors for each of the four languages including Jeyakumar (Tamil), Saravanan (Telugu), Naufel (Malayalam) and Bhuvan Shastri (Kannada).
The judges include Pattimandram Raja for Sun TV, Gauthami and Naga Babu for Gemini TV, Laxmi and MG Sreekumar for Surya TV, and Laxmi and Srinath for Udaya TV. While the anchors are: Tejeswani for Sun TV, Shamala and Abhinaya Krishna for Gemini TV, Deepa and Rahul for Surya TV, and Deepa and Anand for Udaya TV.
Sun TV viewers can watch the 13-episode Champions on Sunday from 12:00 to 1:00 pm; Udaya TV viewers on Saturday from 7:30 to 8:30 pm; Surya TV viewers on Friday from 8.00 to 9.00 pm and Gemini TV viewers on Wednesday from 9:00 to 10:00pm.
Exults Jacob: “Champions is the brain child of Sun Network chairman Kalanithi Maran. We want to make a positive impact in the lives of people who are physically challenged and celebrate them.”
With SEC ABCDE 4+ as the TG, V Care and Dabur Vatika are the sponsors of Champions on Sun TV while the remaining three channels have Dabur Vatika as sponsor. Red FM, Suryan FM, Dinakaran and the whole of Sun Network has been roped in to promote the show. “We are also going seamlessly into season two,” Jacob rounds off.
Whatever the audience reaction, Champions gets a loud hoot of approval from indiantelevision.com
