Vasantham’s concert hits the right notes
SINGAPORE — It had been described as a spectacle, the grandest concert ever in local Tamil television history and a nostalgic-yet-refreshing celebration of local Tamil television and radio. But for the audience and performers at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre last Friday, the massive Vasantham Ponvizha Live concert was more than just a showcase of talent.
More than 4,000 people turned up for the three-hour show organised by MediaCorp Vasantham, which featured performances from more than 100 local talents — comprising 25 musicians, 30 singers and 50 dancers — and celebrated the evolution of the Indian television and radio industry in Singapore, as well as SG50.
The showcase featured the likes of award-winning Indian playback singers Ranjith Govind and Chinmayi Sripada, and Singapore’s own Suthasini, L Vijayandran, Sountharavaliy, Suriamurthi, Mohan, Kaushik, Pavithra and Vishnu Balaji.
Other highlights included a performance by some of Vasantham’s veteran artistes, who re-enacted iconic scenes from classic local Indian dramas, and a meet-and-greet session held before the concert started. Fans were delighted to be personally greeted by popular Vasantham artistes and Oli 96.8FM DJs, and took photos with them at a special photo booth.
“Witnessing the amazing response for my four-minute-long performance made my weeks of practice worth it! Performing alongside Ranjith had been an amazing experience. Being part of such an extravagant SG50 celebration is indeed the biggest milestone in my music career,” said Suthasini.
Dr Chitra Rajaram, MediaCorp’s head of Community Segment (Indian & Malay), said the large turnout “shows the impact our local television and radio has had on the Indian community”. “Vasantham LIVE! continues to be a platform to showcase our local talent pool, and we hope to transcend into the international arena.”
