VJs Kim, Anushka and Sarah-Jane at Tantra on Sunday night. Picture by Rashbehari Das

Channel [V]’s model hunt Get Gorgeous hit town with a vengeance last weekend, trying to tap into the Cinderella syndrome, wooing girls looking for the fast track to stardom.

The hunt, which is taking the music channel’s scouts to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Pune as well, started on Saturday with promotional roadshows culminating in a big bash at Tantra, ending late Sunday night.

The fun started on Saturday, when the team took time off to skim the Café Coffee Day outlets in the city, as well as other hangouts like Cloud 9, to invite potential head turners to the Gorgeous party. They didn’t have to work too hard, as word on the hunt has been out for quite some time now, and aspiring supermodels have been dropping their photos and bios at Café Coffee Day outlets.

Sarah, the new face of the [V] show, got the gang going. “I am living proof of the fact that dreams do come true!” cheered Sarah. The competition doesn’t rely on looks or past modelling experience, she stresses. “All the girls have to reflect is a sense of style and a pleasing persona,” said Sarah.

The competition, targeting girls above the age of 16, is trying to give a boost to those in search of a career in modelling. “The Indian youth is no longer shy of opting for modelling as a profession. India has a huge pool of talented models who are doing extremely well in the international arena as well,” explained Amar K. Deb, head, Channel [V] India.

The results, to be declared in four months, will catapult four wannabes to instant stardom. The girls who do “get gorgeous” will go through makeovers with stylists and fashion designers, leading to a modelling contract with Channel [V] and Elite modelling agency.

The enthusiastic turnout at Tantra was evidence enough that the promos had hit home. Scores of girls, dressed in teeny tops and blue jeans, warmed the floor and didn’t stop till around 2 am. Keeping an eagle eye on them, while partying themselves, were VJs Anushka, Kim and Sarah-Jane, playing fairy godmother.

Selections happened even as the party fever ran high. As the VJs gave the go-ahead, a team of two women and two men pulled out the impressive ones as they let out screams of delight.

Outside, a Channel [V] team profiled the hopefuls, playing music and asking them to do their own thing, with and without props. As the girls got busy flashing smiles and pouting lips while the cameras rolled, 15 girls were finally shortlisted from the city.

Youth watch

The saas-bahu sagas may rule the TRPs, but GenY has shown its loyalty to music channels. After its stupendous success with Popstars, Channel [V] has been catapulted to the number-one music channel slot and is out to add more feathers to its already vibrant cap.

“Popstars proved to be Channel [V]’s KBC. There has been no looking back ever since,” said Amar K. Deb, head, Channel [V] India, in town for the weekend activities.

Modelled on its dream run with Viva and Aasma, [V] was in town to hunt for local faces for Get Gorgeous, which aspires to turn plain Janes into supermodels.

Hoping to provide a platform to “nurture budding talent”, shows like this one aim to get the target audience involved and interactive.

“Channel [V] essentially caters to a very young audience and the youth today has a great weakness for glamorous professions like modelling and acting,” observed Amar. “We try to minimise their struggle to make a mark which involves the whole rigmarole of getting a portfolio done and waiting in queue to meet relevant people,” added Amar.

While Get Gorgeous gets going, [V] has unleashed a series of innovative programmes to keep audiences hooked. Popstars may just be back, by pop demand.

Tapping into the popularity of Bollywood and the remix rage, [V] has turned to wacky spoofs. Like Phone Bhoot, where prank calls are made by look-alikes or sound-alikes of Bollywood biggies. In Gaurav and the Oomphmatis, funny-man Gaurav pulls a poker face for interviews with item-number girls, shooting a bunch of silly questions. Remix Rani plays back-to-back remixes.

“We keep our finger on the pulse of the audience all the time. Our research reveals that anything centred around Bollywood sells,” revealed Amar.

A different formula has been designed to appeal to the older crowd. Like Luke’s After Hours, which has seen the return of the once-iconic VJ Luke Kenny, focussing on retro tracks between 11 pm to 3 am on weekends. “Our target audience goes up to the age of 35 and we have to keep all tastes in mind,” he explained.

And it’s not all flip. With elections being top of mind right now, The Big Vote — Choose or Lose closes in on the likes of politicians Omar Abdullah and Nafisa Ali, who field questions over half an hour, from the youth present in the studio audience. MTV is also running an election promo, Rock the Vote.

“Fifty per cent of India is below the age of 40 and we felt that elections are another potent issue to get the young involved,” said Amar.