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India: Catholic TV channel conducts Gospel Singer Reality Show

Atmadarshan TV, one of the most popular religious channels in North India, holds audition for the Gospel Singer Reality Show in Central India. (RVA News)

Atmadarshan TV, one of the most popular religious channels in North India, held an online and offline audition for the Gospel Singer Reality Show.

The Gospel singing segment used the format of the most popular version of the TV reality show.

The Atmadarshan (realization of self-knowledge or supreme wisdom) team, led by director Father Anand Chirayath and joint director Father Selvin Ignetius, traveled nearly 6000 kilometers in 12 days to conduct auditions in 15 cities across eight north Indian states.

Of the 250 applicants, 50 were chosen for the first round in Atmadarshan.

Since its inception in 2018, Atmadarshan TV, a Hindi YouTube religious channel, spreads the message of Jesus throughout the world from Prerana Communications in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, central India.

Following the panelists' evaluations and online voting, 30 were chosen for the second round, which will take place on August 13 and 14. 

The semi-finals and mega-finals will take place in October.

The first round of the reality show featured Christian musicians from 10 Indian states and 30 dioceses.

The 67-year-old Rajendra Gupta of Bhopal, who has been in the parish choir for more than 40 years, was the show's oldest contestant.

Vaishali Bakode (leading vocalist from Indore), Pradeep (Banaras Ratna Awardee and vocalist from Varanasi), and Deepak Francis from Ajmer served as judges.

The Reality Show took place at Atmadarshan Studios in Indore.

The show also recognized prominent Catholic, non-Catholic, and non-Christian musicians who have contributed to the advancement of North Indian Christianity.

Pushpanjali Paul, a member of the Missionary Congregation of Sisters, Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS), also known as the Holy Spirit Sisters, was a guest of honor at the show. More than 180 songs for the Catholic liturgical hymnal have been written and composed by her.

Dilip Bose, who has provided his voice and music to over 700 Christian devotional songs, was also honored at the Reality Show.

Devine Word Father Deepak Suliya, a writer and musician from Madhya Pradesh's Neemad region and one of the first native missionary priests, was also recognized and honored.

At the same event, another musician, Father Maria Stephan, the public relations officer of the Archdiocese of Bhopal, in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, and Peter Jamra, one of the pioneers of Christian studios, were also congratulated.

"It was my dream to give a bigger platform for the choir members of North India," says Father Anand, the founder and director of Atmadarshan.

"Some of them have been in the service of the church for more than 20-25 years. Their roles in the liturgy are as important as the priest's role in Mass. I do trust that this reality show will give them a greater opportunity to be recognized beyond the circle of their parish churches and dioceses," he added.

After the outbreak of pandemics, Atmadarshan, one of the most popular religious channels in North India, was able to redefine Christian content making.

Their Gospel Singer Mega Reality Show segment has become extremely popular in North India following their successful portrayal of Sister Rani Maria Vattalil in their famous telefilm. - Praveen Parmar, RVA Hindi

 

Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.”  Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.