Ex-Percept CEO, Dhondy's MagikTuch launches talent hunt

An idea began to seed in the mind of Navroze Dhondy, CEO, Creatigies Communications, during a bus ride from Islamabad to Lahore, while returning from the final cricket match of the India-Pakistan blind series played this year. How about launching a talent hunt for the disabled?, Dhondy thought.

Dhondy, who was formerly the CEO of Percept, joined hands with George Abraham, chairman ACBI and CEO Score Foundation, and a visually impaired individual, to realise his dream. And MagikTuch - a talent management firm - was launched with the objective to facilitate potential of talent that remains undiscovered due to social, economic or disability reason and manage their careers.

And now, MagikTuch is just a few days from giving thousands the opportunity to sing. The talent hunt takes off in Mumbai on October 4, 2004 at the National Association of Blind auditorium. The talent hunt travels south - to Bangalore, where the auditions will take place on October 5 at Voices (Indira Nagar). The auditions in Delhi will be held at Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), Nizamuddin on October 8.

The talent hunt will conclude in the second half of the October. The panel of judges include Ustad Sultan Khan (Sarangi player) of Piya basanti re... fame, Anand Prasad, director, A&R division of Sony TV, pop singer Shibani Kashyap and Annette Philip.

Three to four candidates will be shortlisted from each centre and, in the final round, four participants will be selected. These four will be formally launched in a concert by end-November 2004 in Dubai.

Talking about the initiative Dhondy says, "The mission is to recognise talent, providing insights to improve and develop it. And, this opportunity creates a platform for demonstrating the talent and enabling national and international exposure."

There have been legendary singers such as Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Jose Feliciano, or our very own K C Dey (Manna Dey's uncle, and famous composer-singer) and Ravinder Jain. Hopefully, this contest too will discover a genius.

© 2004 agencyfaqs!