Last two months saw the airwaves filled with melodies from all corners of Pakistan, winning our hearts and inspiring all of us to vote for our fav voices. The last weeks had us biting our nails as we waited with bated breath to find out who the winners would be.
And then Bajao Music announced the three brilliant underground musical talents of Pakistan.
The first prize went to Noman Al Sheikh from Karachi! The music genius not only won a cash prize of five lakhs but also a chance to get his song produced by a leading music producer. 23-year-old Noman belongs to Karachi and is a full-time music student and also is working in a sales job at Saddar Cooperative market. He started singing when he was 14 years old.
There were two amazing musical talents that tied for the second position – Sameen Khwaja and Zaira Ali. Sameen is a counselor and a teacher and has been singing for as long as her memory goes. For her “music is food for the soul and gives all the motivation and energy to get going in life. On the other hand, 18-year-old Zaira Ali from Lahore is a musicology student and started singing when she was five years old. She is the only musician in her family but her family is super supportive!
Twenty-two-year-old Danish Butt won the third prize. He lives in Islamabad but belongs to Occupied Kashmir. He is currently doing a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from COMSATS and has been playing music since he was five years old when his uncle bought him a piano. He is a self-taught guitarist pianist, singer, and music producer. While accepting his prize he said, “I want to thank everyone at Bajao Music for their constant support and for providing us this amazing platform through which I learned many things. It was an extremely valuable experience for me that I will forever cherish. I would also like to thank everyone who supported me throughout my Bajao Music journey.”
Those who still haven’t, heard the songs that our uber-talented musicians have made should definitely have a listen on the Bajao Music app or their social media channels. They are just out of this world.
The team behind Bajao.pk, one of Pakistan’s leading music streaming platforms, worked tirelessly to provide a platform for the hidden talent of Pakistan. Nayi Awaaz, the biggest and one of its kind online singing competition was launched with full hype and vigor on January 26th through Bajao Music’s social media handles including Facebook, Instagram, and the Bajao Music App. The celebrities onboarded included the most popular names from the music industry: Yashal Shahid, Abdullah Qureshi, Umair Jaswal, and Bilal Khan.
Not only was the scale of the competition huge, but also the prizes that were announced for the top 3 positions were amazing. After the competition was declared open, Bajao Music received an overwhelming response with 1000+ entries from aspiring singers from all over Pakistan.
Nayi Awaaz was based on 3 rounds, providing opportunities to underground singers to showcase their talent and become the next voice of Pakistan. Of the 1000+ entries, 125 contestants were shortlisted in Round 1; then 25 winners; and then 10 lucky winners made it through the 2nd round. After this, the 3rd and final round took place and 3 winners were selected. While the 1st round was based on cover songs and could only be judged on voice quality and performance, Rounds 2 and 3 had a twist! The finalists for these rounds were given three interesting hashtags to choose from and then these hashtags had to be included in their original songs.
Nayi Awaaz was not just another competition. It was designed to be a musical journey for the singers, from developing voice quality to using their creative juices to produce music that brings out their personalities.
We look forward to many more musical events from Bajao Music.
This post is sponsored by Bajao Music!
Cover image via Bajao.pk