Shillong, Aug. 28: Shillong went into a tizzy after Indian Idol wannabe, Amit Paul, was pushed into the elite band on Friday, finding a place among the top four left in the reality show. The Indian Idol show suddenly bridged the cultural divide in Meghalaya. And Amit Paul fans have quickly got into action.

The Shillong Arts and Music Lovers’ Forum, which had spearheaded the Vote Amit Paul campaign, organised a series of public meetings to drum up support for this self-made singer.

At a public meeting on Jail Road Boys School on Saturday, people came from every corner of Meghalaya. Contingency plans were drawn up to improve Amit’s vote bank. People were even ready to sponsor PCOs so that fans could vote from 9pm Friday to 8am.

Amit Paul’s is the most articulated name in Shillong today. In fact, everything else, including politics, has taken a back seat even as people soak in the “feel-good” sensation. Amit’s fan club cuts across all ages.

An 84-year-old grandmother from Mawlai is one avid fan. Friday after Friday she has been watching Amit in action. Alva Nongsiej, a young college student voted 2,800 times on her mobile even as she supervised her PCO at Mawlai Motsyiar.

Another diehard fan, Kalpana, said her family would sponsor a PCO in Mawlai this coming Friday.

There is no dearth of innovative strategies as far as Amit’s fans are concerned. While some are sponsoring mobile phones and pre-paid cards to distribute to volunteers, others have been sending SMS texts to every part of India urging especially non-resident northeasterners to vote for Amit.

Net surfers who hit Sify.com for tidbits on Indian Idol are surprised that the maximum number of fanmail comes from Pakistan. So far, Amit has a tally of 8,688 messages.

Anosh Yakub from Lahore says, “I am your biggest fan; every time you sing you rock the stage.” Joshua from Karachi has this exhortation for Amit fans: “Please vote as much as you can. Don’t let us down and don’t let Pakistan down too. Really wish I could vote. If I could I would have voted in thousands.” Talk about music as a Track II diplomacy strategy! With reality TV shows, music has indeed transcended geographical and political boundaries.

Amit Paul is not just a good singer but a versatile one, singing in as many as six languages including Telugu. Chaitanya from Hyderabad says, “Amit, please sing a Telugu song because your Telugu accent is to good.” Female admirers literally swoon over Amit’s unconventional good looks and rock star image.

“After Debojit Saha of Voice of India fame, Amit is the next person from the Northeast to have made it to the top four slot in a reality TV show. But if the Northeast is to compete with Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and North Bengal (from where the other contestants hail), then the northeasterners will have to vote en bloc.” This is what Kunal Mordani, secretary of the Shillong Arts and Music Lovers Forum had to say. Many Shillongites are already voting in four digit figures.

So if Amit Paul is to be Indian Idol III, he certainly needs a fan club cutting across the seven states and across India. Can the Northeast rise to the occasion?