Faridkot boy in finale of Rising Star 3

Balwant Garg

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Tribune News Service

Faridkot, June 3

Mesmerising the audience and the judges of Rising Star 3, a reality singing competition, Aftab Singh, a 12-year-old boy from Deep Singh Wala village of Faridkot, has surprised the everyone with his perfect renditions of Punjabi and Hindi melodies and become the first contestant to make it to the grand finale of the show.

The finale will be held on June 8 and 9 and will be telecast on Colors TV.

Rising Star is an Indian version of the international franchise series Rising Star, a reality television singing competition. The third season of Rising Star had started on March 16, 2019.

Popular playback singer and music director Shankar Mahadevan, actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh, Neha Kakkar and playback singer Monali Thakur is the team of experts to assess the performance of participants. Viewers also give their vote to the contestants.

While the participants in this show were selected through auditions, Aftab was given a direct entry to the show for his soul-stirring singing.

Earlier in 2017, Aftab, who belongs to a below poverty line (BPL) family, had given an audition for Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs at the age of 10 years and was among the top seven finalists. He had also appeared on the TV show Music Ki Pathshala on &TV. In Rising Star 3, Aftab bagged more than 90 per cent votes from the live audience in all episodes.

For their poor economic condition, Aftab, his two siblings and parents were living at a dera in Deep Singh Wala village till two year ago. After a family in the village donated 4 marlas to Mahesh Singh, Aftab’s father, he took a loan of Rs 2.75 lakh to build the boundary wall and constructed two rooms so that he could nurture the singing talent of his son.

Last year, impressed with his perfect rendition of Bollywood melodies, Salman Khan had announced to pay Rs 2.75-lakh loan of Aftab’s family, said Mohit Khunger, a friend of Mahesh.  “When Color TV had invited Aftab to participate in the reality show, my family had just Rs 300. But, support provided by residents of Deep Singh Wala village and our well-wishers changed everything,” he added