MUMBAI: This weekend musical history was created as 9X announced the ‘Ustaad Jodi‘ on Mission Ustaad.After 13 weeks exhilarating music and entertainment, the viewers and jury crowned Roop Kumar & Sunali Rathod with the title of ‘Ustaad Jodi‘ in a musical ceremony amidst huge fanfare. In its constant endeavour to provide bigger, better & fresher entertainment to the entire family 9X has week on week created awareness on the MDG‘s of the UN‘s across the length and breadth of the country.

Commenting on their victory Ustaad Jodi Roop Kumar & Sunali Rathod said, "It was an honour for us singing in front of such a great jury Javed Akhtar, Lara Dutta, A R Rahman. Mission Ustaad was a unique concept by United Nations, Endemol and 9X to create awareness about UN‘s MDGs. I would like to thank the 9X, judges, our fans who have contributed in our victory and also our composers and lyricists for giving us beautiful compositions. Each of us are winners and I would like congratulate my fellow participants for their contribution towards this wonderful journey"

The concluding episode began with all the 8 talented singers singing tilte track of the movie Fanaa Later, the performance of the glittering evening was be by earthy genius Kailash Kher and the extremely talented Roop Kumar Rathod on ‘Azeem-o-Shaan Shehenshah‘ from the historical movie Jodhaa - Akhbar welcoming the judges for the show. Adding glitter to the beautiful evening the 8 inherent singers also performed the blockbuster hit of the year 2007 ‘Om Shanti Om‘ . The performance was thoroughly enjoyed by the wonderful audience.

The performances included for the musical evening were, Naresh Iyer and Shweta Pandit lending their voice to the chartbuster of the year 2007 Mauja Mauja followed by Kailash Kher and Mahalaxmi Iyer‘s ‘Jalwa‘ from the movie Aaja Nachle. Also to dazzle the evening Vasundhara Das & Mohit Chauhan sang their favourite ‘Where‘s The Party Tonight‘ And last but not the least the winning jodi comprising of Roop Kumar Rathod & Sunali Rathod sang ‘Jogiya‘ from the movie Tere Naam.

Contributing their bit to make the world a better place to live in, the 8 Misison Ustaad singers, Naresh Iyer & Shweta Pandit, Kailash Kher & Mahalaxmi Iyer‘s, Vasundhara Das & Mohit Chauhan, Roop Kumar Rathod & Sunali Rathod contributed their prize money to the UN MDGs of their choice like Education, Environment, Health and Gender Equality projects.

MUMBAI: The second edition of Star Sports Golf Invitational was held at the par-72 Golden Green Resort, Gurgaon on 23 February.Organized by ESPN Star Sports, the one day Golf Invitational saw wide spread participation from corporate India. The tournament featured corporates and cricketers like Ajay Jadeja, Rahul Sanghvi and some young Indian talent like Laverry Kumar, Rashid Khan, Chikrangappa and Gauri Monga.

Corporate leaders across industry segments including ESPN Star Sports MD Manu Sawhney, Hero Honda Motors Ltd MD Pawan Munjal, P&G chairman Bharat Patel, IPL CEO Sundar Raman were seen swinging their clubs and vying for top honors.

Speaking on the occasion, Venkateish said, "I am extremely pleased to see the response for the second edition of the Star Sports Golf Invitational. ESPN Star Sports showcases the biggest golf events in the world like the PGA Championships, Augusta Masters and so on. With the Star Sports Golf Invitational we have extended the enjoyment of the game by allowing the spectator to become an actual player."

"Besides the sporting entertainment, tournaments like these also provide a great platform to meet up with fellow corporate heads outside official meetings and in an informal setting." added Venkateish.

STAR Sports Golf Invitational was played in the individual stroke play format with three over par as the maximum score on any hole. The handicaps were adjusted on the ‘Double Peoria System‘. The participants competed in three handicap divisions as per the declared handicaps.

MUMBAI: Radio Farishta, the 24-hour classic [retro] Hindi film music station on WorldSpace Satellite Radio celebrates Khayyam Saab‘s 81st birthday with a special series dedicated to his music and his journey in the Hindi film industry.Aired at 10:00 pm from Monday to Friday through the rest of February, the series promises listeners a peek into the veteran‘s life, love and of course, his music.

Mohammed Zahoor Khayyam Hashmi, popularly known as Khayyam composed music for the heart and from the heart. Khayyam is part of what is known as ‘the golden era‘ of Hindi films in the decades that spanned during the late 1950s through to the 1960s.

Famed for working on his own terms, Khayyam was one of the most expensive and sought-after composers of his time. In this exclusive series, Khayyam shares never-before-heard facts about his life along with hand-picked songs from his library with Radio Farishta listeners. The maestro shares memoirs on his mentors, contemporaries and the composers who set the trends in Hindi film music as he selects songs that tribute their contributions.

New Delhi, 22 February: The UTV Network has claimed that its newly launched World Movies garnered 11% channel share in the English Movies Genre beating Pix at 8% and Zee Studio at 1% on Saturday 16 February.
According to channel sources, the ratings also revealed the average time spent watching World Movies in Mumbai is 29 minutes per viewer, which is significantly higher than HBO and all English Entertainment Channels.

The channel was launched on 3 February and claims to have left behind other popular movie and entertainment channels like HBO, AXN, Star World, Zee Caf? and Hallmark among target audience group of C&S 15+ Sec A, according to TAM ratings. World Movies showcases hits from across the world in varied languages.

According to UTV Entertainment TV CEO Shantonu Aditya, "The impressive debut of the channel only confirms our belief that Indian audiences have an appetite for an international movie channel which is high on style and packaging and very different from what they have seen so far. We are currently doing mass media blitz across television, internet, online, radio and actively supported by below-the-line (BTL) activities."

MUMBAI: Maa TV a Telugu entertainment channel is growing stronger day by day adding new and lots of innovative programs for its viewers.

Maa TV?s programme ?Rela re Rela? is a very new concept of talent search for folk singers on television. This is first of its kind on the Telugu television industry. This was a rare show which swept the rural audience.

The selection team traveled 13 different points in AP and selected 24 singers for the studio round. There were four major events conducted in Nizamabad, Vizianagaram and Cuddapah which witnessed a rare turn out of more than 7000 audience for non film events which is such a rare phenomenon.

Rela re Rela now reached its finals and the show was besieged by the presence of prominent people. The judge?s panel consists of four eminent personalities from the folk field. ? Ms.L.R.Eeshwari (Popular Playback Singer), Mr.Suddala Ashok Teja (Cinema Lyric writer who won a national award ), Mr.Goreti Venkanna (Folk Researcher, Singer) & Mr. Chandra Teja (Folk background singer). Apart from them, Ballad singer Gaddar, Film maker Dasharath, Film maker and actor R. Narayana Murthy also were present as judges.

The event was held in Warangal and scheduled to be telecasted this Saturday, 23rd Jan 08. The show had witnessed an unprecedented 50,000 crowd with Gaddar as the chief guest. The anchor Udaya Bhanu set the stage on fire with her vivacious compeering. There were performers from Bhadrachalam and Srikakulam also and added color and vibrancy to the show. The participants who qualified for the semifinals were also given chance to sing on the stage. The first prize winner won a cash prize of Rs. 25,000/- . Prizes more than one Lakh were distributed to the winners and the runner ups.

While the crowd went crazy with the energy and the verve of the performances, there was the disciplined involvement and the show went on for 4 hours. The formal launch of the audio CD also happened and CD?s and cassettes in the market will be released very soon.

There was over whelming response both on air and on ground events. The amazement of the popularity of the show showed in its TRP ratings as the show withstood the onslaught of big block buster movies across other channels on Saturdays and still scored an average of 3+ channel share.

Speaking on the occasion Mr.Sharrath Marar, Chief Executive Officer, said ?..? We are really very happy about the way the channel is shaping up. Maa TV had always been a participative channel and called as a people?s channel where lot of interaction with people on ground happens through various events.?

MUMBAI: After weeks of anxiety and nail-biting anticipation, the winner of the RC Live?s Bangalore Regional Finals was declared.It was an evening of powerhouse performances from the top 4 bands at St. John?s Auditorium last evening. In an unprecedented turn of events, the judges were unanimous in their decision to name two bands as the regional finalists. The judging panel Palash Sen, Subir Malik, Vibhav Rao felicitated popular local band Swarathma and upcoming talent Ek who won the Bangalore Regional Finals and qualified for the RC Live National Finals to be held in Delhi on Feb 29, 2008.

The results were declared after electrifying performances by the 4 short-listed bands Udaan, Ek, Swarathma and Anhad who had Bangalore?s Radio Cityzens grooving to their tunes. The edge of the seat excitement on the performances was captured for all on Bangalore?s Radio City 91.1FM by RJ Vasanthi on Joyride. The regional rounds also accounted for listener feedback on original compositions of the short listed bands which saw extensive air-play on Radio City 91.1FM stations in Southern India.

Speaking on the evening?s performances Dr. Palash Sen said, ?I was spellbound to witness the high calibre and the energy levels the bands exuded at the Bangalore Regional Finals. Every performance was superlative and way beyond my expectations and so we chose to shortlist not 1 but 2 bands for the National Finals. The Bangalore Regional Finals have set such standards, bands in Mumbai and Delhi will definitely need to be prepared!?

Equally elated was co-judge Subir Malik who added, ?It was an out rightly unanimous decision to name these bands as the winners of the Bangalore Regional Finals. We were tremendously impressed to see the impeccable performances by the bands in Bangalore. It is heartening to see the vast pool of talent in the country and how Radio City has stepped ahead to provide a platform to nurture and support raw talent.?

Talking of the need for such opportunities, Vibhav Rao from EMI said, ?Bands are the next big thing. There is no substitute to Bollywood right now and bands that have the best sound and the attitude to match will fill this void. RC Live is a phenomenal opportunity for bands to experiment with success.?

Commenting on the tremendous response to RC Live Mr. Rana Barua, National Head ? Marketing, Radio City 91.1FM said, ?The response to RC Live?s Bangalore Regional Finals has been outstanding. We?re glad to identify all this fresh talent that can take our music industry to greater heights. With gifted judges and a robust format driven by stringent criteria, Radio City with RC Live promised to scout the nation in a month to present India with a world class Hindi band. The quality of entries received and the extraordinary feedback from our judging panel, only goes to show that we?re very well on our way to fulfilling that promise.?

Elated with their phenomenal win, vocalist Shashank Venkataramana, Ek said, ?It is rare for Hindi bands to get this kind of platform and I?m so thankful that Radio City has created such a unique opportunity for all of us. I thank the Judges for their feedback and for the finals, we will work on our stage presence and deliver a complete package.?

Live-wire lead vocalist, Vasu Dixit of Swarathma said, ?Hindi bands need national exposure. We believe in taking the voice to the masses and Radio City has helped bring this dream alive! Live performances are our playground and we will put up a spirited fight at the finals in Delhi.?

Spanning the nation through three regional hubs - Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, RC Live will conclude with a MEGA concert at the National Finals at The Garden of Five Senses, Delhi on February 29, 2008. The winning band at RC Live will not only bag an album release contract with EMI, but Radio City and EMI will also jointly promote the band for the course of one year. Evangelizing RC Live and supporting the cause of finding a truly talented Hindi music band are the Judging Panel and Mentors - Palash Sen of Euphoria, Subir Malik of Parikrama and Vibhav Rao, Manager, Artists & Repertoire, EMI who will judge the month long LIVE musical extravaganza.

RC Live is supported by a robust hi-decibel national promotional campaign comprising extensive outdoors, interactive road shows and on-air elements which got active from January 30, 2008. With RC Live, Croma ? the electronics megastore comes on board as Associate Sponsor, while Spykar is the official style partner and Gibson the prize partner. Barista is the on-ground partner with EMI as the music label partner. Agencyfaqs! is the trade partners to the event.

A sustained focus on understanding listeners and leveraging the synergies of music expertise and innovative programming, allows Radio City to deliver a unique listening experience and be an integral part of the lives of listeners across markets. Aggressively looking at spreading the Radio City experience to new markets across the country, Radio City 91.1FM is committed to growing the market and creating superlative content for premium audiences.