File picture of singer Debojit Saha surrounded by fans at Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport

March 15: The aspiring singers of the Northeast are now in the spotlight.

After Debojit Saha’s “historic” victory at Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2006 contest, the television channel has come hunting for the first time for fresh voices in the region for its 2007 edition.

The city will host the audition of the wannabe playback singers of the region at Kidzee School in Bharalumukh on Friday.

Bijay Roy, co-ordinator of Art group, a city-based event management group, which is organising the audition, said Debojit’s victory had catapulted the region into the big league of Bollywood music.

Roy said, “Debojit has also taken the initiative to bring the audition to home turf to help aspiring singers avoid the trip to Calcutta and Mumbai for preliminary auditions.”

Friday’s audition is expected to bring in 1,000 singers from across the region. Winners of the city round will go to Calcutta for the next round, which will be judged by popular Bollywood music director Himesh Reshammiya.

Reshammiya had last year received quite a lot of flak from Debojit fans, as he was the mentor of the Silchar boy’s arch rival Vineet Singh of Lucknow at the contest.

Zee TV has confirmed that in a role reversal, Reshammiya will now play mentor to the singers of the Northeast.

In the city round, participants have to go through two rounds. Two music directors from Assam will judge the first round. The names of the two judges have been kept secret by the organisers to prevent any kind of canvassing by the candidates.

Once the participants clear the first round on Friday, Abhisek Dwivedi and Sanjay Vidyarthi, music directors from Zee TV, will judge them in the second and final round. Debojit would also be among the panel of judges as a special guest, said Roy.

Talking to The Telegraph over phone from Mumbai, Debojit said, “Bringing Zee TV for the 2007’s audition to the city was my dream. I have taken the responsibility to bring the best of talent of the Northeast to the mainstream music industry. I am confident Friday’s audition will bring out some of the finest singers of the Northeast who will have the capacity to win the final in Mumbai.”

Debojit, along with his guru Pandit Oscaran Sharma, is also planning to conduct a workshop on singing in different parts of the state.

Purnima Gogoi, a budding singer of the city, said, “Tomorrow will be D-Day. I have kept my fingers crossed and hope to showcase impress the judges. I have always dreamt of making it big in Bollywood and Challenge 2007 is the perfect podium to realise my dreams, as it helps newcomers to gain access to Bollywood.”

Since registration forms for the contest will be issued tomorrow only at the venue, participants are likely to make a beeline for the school from as early as 5 am.