MUMBAI: Zee TV scored another first with the launch of the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Golden Voice Hunt on 29 April. "The aim is to bring forth a new voice in the industry," says Zee TV president Apurva Purohit.

Indiatimes.com is the official online partner and will promote the Golden Voice Hunt; participants can post their entries online. Indiatimes VP-marketing Upen Rai says, "Indiatimes.com is the most visited youth portal in India and hence we are expecting a lot of online entries for the contest."

Indiatimes' role will be that of "creating a comprehensive website and hosting a competition process wherein people can apply online and also get to know who they are up against in the contest," added Rai. The participants should be in the age group of 18 to 28.

With over 2500 entries per city, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Golden Voice Hunt is the biggest ever show of its kind. Of these, approximately 150 will qualify for the final auditions. Purohit said that the auditions will be held on the 17th and 18th of May in five cities (Delhi, Kolkata, Kanpur, Bhopal, Baroda and Pune) within a span of three months.

Finally, 34 contestants will be short listed, who in turn will be brought to Mumbai. The secondary level of the Golden Voice Hunt will be aired on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa from 4 July and will conclude after 13 episodes. Two winners (one male and one female) will be chosen and will be given the opportunity to sing in famed music director Himesh Reshamiya's next movie.

On the promotions aspect, Purohit said that they had planned large and extensive campaigning 10 days before auditioning in any city. She also stressed that this was different from anything that has happened before as they would be actually going to the grass root levels and auditioning people. "Since Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is a Hindi programme we are expecting an overwhelming response," she added.

The contestants will be judged by veteran singers like Vinod Rathod, Talat Aziz and Manhar Udhas, who will be travelling to the selected cities. Mumbai has been left out as a venue for preliminary auditions on the grounds that it already is a hub for such contests.

Purohit however said that if people from Mumbai did want to participate in the contest, they could go to the nearest city where auditions would be held, which in this case would be Pune. Also, south Indian cities like Bangalore and Chennai have been left out as "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is a Hindi programme and hence response from the south would be less," added Purohit.

Shreya Ghosal, Sanjeevani, Shweta Pandit and Parthiv Gohil who were discovered by Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and have carved a niche for themselves in the singing arena, were also present at the launch of the Golden Voice Hunt. Sa Re Ga Ma Pa's director Gajendra Singh was hopeful that this hunt would bring forth more such talent.