The ‘recording round’ of ongoing music talent hunt Naga
Orpheus Hunt 2012 has thrown up many interesting surprises – the contestants are much
younger and hungrier; host Arenla Lemtur is pregnant (or she forgot to go on a
diet this year); member of the Dorians Club are getting rounder and rounder; former
winner of the show Moanungsang Jamir has become the talent show’s cameraman and
judge Tali Angh still hasn’t discovered the glorious practice of shaving. Facial
areas, that is.
And so there they were: 13 hopefuls vying to be called the
next Naga Orpheus winner trying to impress the eagle ears of Media entertainment
craftswoman Ate Kevichusa, local singing hero Nise Meruno and musician/school
proprietor Tali Angh. The ‘recording round’ was held in the mini-theater of recreation
center Highway 39 on Wednesday, October 3 in Dimapur. From the next round on,
many of the contestants would be dropped like hot bricks from the Dorians Club-organized
event. Only 6 would qualify for the semis. The rest shall come under the
Nagaland Retirement Act.
And so the afternoon started. The contestants were there
looking their best for the video camera. The show would be landing on the small
screens in Nagaland in a week or two. So they have had to look good.
Then there were the judges: Kevichusa was all tiny, round,
pink and lovely; Meruno was all yellow hair but minus his trademark crotch-killing
tight pants while the quiet-talking Angh looked on gloriously in his usual
trusty beard. Highway 39’s mini-theater was also packed with members of the main
organizers, the Notun Basti-based Dorians Club. Then there was the
tamul-devouring Media people and anxious well-wishers who accompanied the contestants.
Further, there was this motley crew of sweating, bag-eyed, camera-toting
and finger-signaling film crew led by
rocker-turned-Naga-Idol-winner-turned-NGO-Activist-turned-Restaurateur-turned-Video-Technician-turned-something-else
Moanungsang. In the midst of the hustle bustle, the nerve-wracked young
contestants could be seen fighting a losing battle against panic attacks. The
sinister video cameras in front of them only aggravated their condition.
And so the show began. Judging by the look on the audience’s
faces and the comments passed by the judges, the young singers’ performances
fell into roughly 3 distinct groups: the Good, the Bad and the WTF. Of course,
Miss Kevichusa and Mr. Meruno were diplomatically acidic at regular intervals.
They usually killed the offending singers lovingly. On the other hand, Mr. Angh
was generally mild, sweet and caring. He normally began his critique by saying mild,
caring and sweet things before strangling the offending singer.
Among the contestants Wapang Longkumer of Mokokchung looked
like he had all the makings of a real star. The smoky-voiced Longkumer took The
Beatles’ 1970 classic ‘Let It Be’ by the neck, kissed it with his heart and flung
it to the judges who had no choice but be bowled over.
In fact, even female
Simon Cowell Kevichusa and Meruno began sniffling noisily into their
handkerchiefs at the heart-wrenching performance from the young Longkumer. Wapang’s
performance was perhaps one of the evening’s highlights after another favorite Thunglamo
failed to impress the judges in a prior performance. Another contestant, Houvino
took on a big, big song – Aretha Franklin’s ‘Son of a Preacher Man’. She was a
tad nervous, pitchy at times and shy but performed a passionate rendition of
the classic to win the confidence of the judges. But not entirely of course –
Miss Cowell was not convinced although Meruno’s eyes appeared suspiciously
shiny. Angh was diplomatic but OKAY-ed pretty Hovino’s attempt.
There was also a moment during the show that proved more
interesting than music: One of the contestants, Temsuyapang, was abruptly summoned
off the stage after the videographers discovered that the poor man’s forehead
was shining gloriously either from oil or nervous sweat. Sensing the danger the
shining forehead could pose to television imaging, the official Naga Orpheus
make-up artist was swiftly summoned to exterminate the offending shine. The
makeup artist quickly beautified the shiny man with some strange, colored
powder of some sort. When he returned to the stage, Temsuwapang looked like he
was ready to say “Take Care” as a tribute to Garnier men’s fairness cream.
All’s fair in fair and love, you see. Sadly, the Fair & Lovely
encouragement did not help his performance that much when he took on The
Script’s ‘Break Even’ (from Breakeven, 2008).
Another surprise of the event was Yenwang Konyak who
casually strutted on the stage for Blake Shelton’s Grammy-nominated ‘Honeybee’
(from Red River Blue, 2011). Armed with good diction, sober nonchalance and
quiet confidence, Konyak seduced the judges. Sadly, the response would not be
so warm for many of the evening’s singers who left the stage dreading whether
they would at all survive the main rounds. But then, that’s a decision only the
voting cards would make later.
The Morung Express, October 3, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment