MUMBAI: The second edition of the Pogo Amazing Kids Awards, the first-ever Indian television award programme dedicated exclusively to kids has announced nominations for the various Pogo Kids Awards categories.
To be presented in December 2005, the Pogo Amazing Kids Awards celebrates the skills of amazing kids by recognizing and rewarding them for outstanding achievements in categories such as genius, leader, artist, sports star, dancer, entertainer and musician.
21 outstanding kids have been selected for the various categories from amongst thousands of entries received from parents, teachers and other educational institutions spanning several Indian states.
The winners of Pogo Kids Awards will be chosen by a panel of judges including the likes of Javed Akhtar, Ehsaan and Loy, Michael Ferreira, Shabana Azmi, Kiran Bedi, Milind Deora, Tanushree Shankar, Manu Parekh, Sajid Khan and Raveena Tandon among others and announced and felicitated at a special star-studded event in Mumbai.
Category - Genius
¥ Divya Khare, 14 years, Delhi - A Standard IX student from Delhi Public School, R K Puram, New Delhi, Divya proved her wonder at numbers by securing the second rank both at the National Math Olympiad and the ABACUS International Mathematical Olympiad 2004-2005. This young achiever's ambition is to be the UN Secretary General!
¥ Rahul Jayanth, 10 years, Bangalore - By inventing an 8' diameter 64' focal length Newtonian Reflector Telescope. This Standard V wiz-kid of Presidency School, Bangalore made his teachers proud by dedicating his invention to President A P J Abdul Kalam!
¥ Shreyans Chandrashekhra Nilwarna, 8 years, Mumbai - He may be just in the III Standard, but that didn't stop this intelligent student of D.A.V. Public School, Navi Mumbai from recording 91 sums in 10 minutes with an abacus and 84 sums in 5 minutes without an abacus at the National Mental Arithmetic Competition 2005.
Category - Leader
¥ Diwakar Sharma, 12 years, Delhi - A gold medallist at Regional Abilympics, a talented keyboardist and a musician - these are just a few of the feathers to Diwakar's cap of achievements. Though visually impaired, he is an A+ student of regular classes at DPS, East of Kailash, New Delhi. His talent for music has seen him perform for President Kalam. One can also hear Diwakar on Airtel landline by dialing 1750. A movie too was telecast on Doordarshan National in 2003 on this 5-year-old's talent titled 'Diwakar'.
¥ Baby Palak Muchhal, 13 years, Indore - The Standard IX student from Queen's College, Indore has the voice of an angel and sings to collect funds for children suffering from cardiac disorders, for which she has bagged the National Child Award for exceptional achievement.
¥ Anamika R. Bansode, 10 years, Mumbai - Anamika skated all the way from Mumbai to Tirupathi on a peace mission back in 2003 when she was all of 7 years! Anamika studies in the VI Standard at Christ Church School, Mumbai.
Category -Artist
¥ Arushi Bhatnagar, 3 years, Indore - This little 3 year old, still in nursery at the Crescendo Academy, Indore has magical fingers! She held her first exhibition at the age of 11 months and has received a number of state awards for her talent of finger painting.
¥ Preetam Das, 11 years, Kolkata - An expert in pastels, water colours and pencil sketching, this budding artist from the Banamalipur Priyanath Institution, Barasat, Kolkata has won the National Award from Indian Council of Child Welfare, the International 'Rose of Lidice' from the Czech Republic and the National Bal Shree Award from President APJ Abdul Kalam.
¥ Antara Dey, 13 years, Kolkata - Antara's talent has secured her the Bal Shree Award for Excellence in Art 2004 and the National Award at the National Painting Competition. She is an IX standard student of Mansur Habibullah Memorial School, Kolkata.
Category - Sports Star
¥ Parimarjan Negi, 12 years, Delhi - Parimarjan, a National Sub-junior Chess Champion (2004), is the youngest Indian to have earned the 'International Master Norm' in chess. The little chess master studies in Standard VII at Amity International School, Saket, New Delhi.
¥ Madhavi Giri, 13 years, Chennai - This standard 8 student of Cluny Convent High School, Bangalore broke Nisha Millet's 200m-backstroke record. She is also the youngest member of the Indian swimming team to compete at the Asian group swimming championships, Bangkok.
¥ Dilip Nalla, 12 years, Mumbai - The youngest participant and gold medallist at the national offshore sailing rally studies at the Naval Children School, Mumbai.
Category - Dancer
¥ Sai Vamshee Krishna Mogudala, 12 years, Hyderabad - Recipient of the CCRT scholarship for excellence in dance, this Standard VIII student from Brilliant Grammar High School, Hyderabad has had over 900 performances in India and abroad to his record. Having won the Bal Shree Award in 2003, this 12 year old was selected as the youngest ambassador to perform at Vamshee and Mauritius.
¥ Shashank M. Kashi, 9 years, Bangalore - A performer of folk dance form 'Yakshagana', this Standard IV student from Presidency School, Bangalore has given many performances and has won many accolades at the tender age of 9!
¥ Upasana Upadhyay, 14 years, Chennai - A Bharatanatyam dancer who has given over 500 performances across the globe, Upasana is the recipient of the CCRT scholarship for excellence. This standard 10 student of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary School, Chennai is also trained in yoga and is a national level artistic skater.
Category - Entertainer
¥ B. Jawahar Raj, 14 years, Vishakhapatnam - Having pulled a car with his teeth over a distance of 50 and 100 meters, B. Jawahar is preparing to set himself a niche in the Limca Book of Records. He studies at Depaul School, Ukkunagaram.
¥ P. Karun Krishna, 11 years, Bangalore - Using his magic to raise money for Kargil, The Gujarat Earthquake and physically challenged children, this little magician has left awestruck audiences at over 1200 magic shows. A Standard VI student at St. John's High School, Bangalore, he has won awards at the state and national level for his magical skills.
¥ Jai Chiniara, 12 years, Rajkot - He may be restricted to a wheel chair but he'll have you in splits with his wit and humour. Jai made it to the semi finals for the Great Laughter Challenge on Star One and studies in the Standard II in Simran School, Rajkot.
Category - Musician
¥ Jananiy S. J., 13 years, Chennai - An expert in Carnatic vocal music, this vocalist released her album at the age of 7. She has won the National Award for exceptional musical talent and has performed for President APJ Abdul Kalam. A playback singer for films and television shows, Jananiy studies in Standard IX at St. Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Cuddalore.
¥ Baby Alka Ajith, 9 years, Thalassery - She has been featured in the Limca Book of Records as the youngest singer and her ability to sing in eight 11 different languages. A student of Holy Family English Medium School, Thalassery, Baby Alka has 340 stage performances and over 2000 songs to her record.
¥ Siddharth Nagarajan, 7 years, Chennai - Having made it to the Limca Book of Records as the Youngest Drummer for three consecutive years from 2003 - 2005, Siddharth was invited to perform for President APJ Abdul Kalam. He gave his first live performance in 2000 when he was less than three years of age.
To promote the Pogo Amazing Kids Awards, the channel has kicked off a well-integrated marketing campaign that includes extensive media such as hoardings, print advertising and web-based promotions. A school contact programme is being conducted to contact 3000 school principals to inform them about Pogo Amazing Kids Awards and, in turn, spread the message about the awards to over 15,00,000 kids.
Instituted by Pogo in December 2004, Pogo Amazing Kids Awards is the first-ever kids' television award. The Awards recognises kid achievers and rewards them for their outstanding accomplishments in multiple areas of excellence such as arts, leadership, sports, etc.
