COLORS INFINITY goes Original with The Stage!

Music has always been part of our culture whereas the fact remains that English music is being consumed across the country across the heartland. Taking a cue from this Colors Infinity brings the first home-grown content in the English music genre for the diverse audiences of India. The 45 days old channel will be taking the audience on a new ride with its new show The Stage.

The Stage will go on air from October 10 at 9 PM on Saturday and Sunday. The show promises to take the audience on an eye opener ride as it will not only showcase talents from across the country but will nurture them to make a name in both the national and International platform.

Within a span of two months, Colors Infinity has consistently surprised its viewers with back-to-back shows, Instant Premieres and a refreshing line-up. Now, with the path-breaking concept of The Stage, the channel has taken the first step in Indian television history to provide a platform to nurture English singing talent in India.

Talking about the new show The Stage Ferzad Palia, EVP, Viacom18 and Head, English Entertainment, says “It’s something that has been there in the work for a long time. Essentially we are extremely excited about doing a lot of local language English production, using Indian talent across the board and so therefore our first show The Stage which is India first ever hunt for the best English voice goes on air on the 10th of Oct. We are well into production and it’s a huge space largely unexplored, there has been attempts in the past in this genre too, to use the English language but by and large they have always diverted towards the Bollywood angle. The fact remains that Disruption has become the heart of everything that we have done so far. “

This one-of-its-kind, exciting quest for India’s English music talent, has roped in a power-packed combination of music maestros from eclectic genres; Vishal Dadlani, Monica Dogra, Ehsaan Noorani, Mr. Devraj Sanyal, as the jury panel and Shibani Dandekar as the host for the show. On talking about such a powerful panel Ferzad says “it’s a panel containing both the musicians and people who are concerned with the business perspective of music. Vishal is a thorough musician, he is a singer and has composed music for different genres for a long time. Ehsaan is technical guy and has heard every artist. Monica gave us a completely different perspective, which was in terms of performance. She has performed internationally and has lived abroad so that added to it. Debraj works in music from a business angle. So it was an interesting mix and we are fortunate that they are all on board.”

Colors Infinity with this new show brings contestant from different parts of the country from North-East to UP and every other part of the country. The contestants have not been selected through the auditions but the best talents from across India, from singers who have not sung professionally to band members have all been brought together on one single platform. Elaborating further on this Ferzad says “It’s a combination of contestant there are some people who have never sung professional music but are great singers. There was a little bit of grooming which we did before they become participant of the show. The talent we have is absolutely outstanding and we believe that we have had those talents for many years now and we are giving them the platform to showcase all this talent. So that will be the crux of why we are doing it.”

Adding further “. The contestant will not only be awarded but will be recognised around the World. We are not looking at this is one TV show which has 20 episodes, that’s not how we are visualising this. The winner will get a recording contract; individual album will be released of them which will be a global release. With this show we are hoping to find the next biggest sensation that this country can give and will make a mark across the world. We are quite confident that we have that and we are just giving them the platform.”
Colors Infinity will also be doing a lot of on-ground activity, the gigs with the winner. The property is now huge and they believe to bring in new talent with every season.

But one of the question that still remain is that English music genre has not seen a huge success in the market and has in the past not garnered many eyeballs. So what made them take this direction, talking on this front Ferzad says “It’s a home grown production, top notch quality, and the way this contestant has been polished throughout the show is crazy and it’s a content that will garner all the support. Even like a channel VH1 we have 60-65% from beyond the metros and are further expanding. So this is a completely home-grown format. See the fact is we could have brought in an internationally adapted show but the fact of the matter is we have this great format and the format has evolved even during the shoot itself and is still evolving. I think we are capable enough of having our own format.”

The other questions is that how has the sponsors response been for the new show, Ferzad says “. We have been extremely fortunate that before we could announce the show, because there was a number of reason for which it was kept under the wraps for a while. We had Renault the car maker come on board, It’s not easy for brand to put their money on genres which are untapped and untouched for a while. So we truly appreciate their support. So the show is called Renault present The Stage and is powered by Truly Madly.”

The Stage format would be different from the other shows as it will not have the auditions and the audience voting in it. But will the production of the show be at par to that of International level. Talking about this Ferzad says “While the fact remains can we match up to the international level of production then I know it’s not going to be, because there is a high level of investors in the international domain. So it’s more about the quality of the talent than the production, having said that I still believe that the production house SOL has done a great work and has been at par with that of International level. Also we are extremely proud of the quality of production that we have put up in the show.”

The channel aims to target audiences beyond the metros with this new show. Colors Infinity has seen demand from remotest part of the country and is hoping to garner the same audience with this show also.

On talking about taking the step in the English music format direction he says “We have a very firm believe that local programming in English language is here to stay, and you have seen it across different media and who knows there are various shows that could become the tipping point. See the fact is if somebody does not create, nobody knows what it looks like and consumer do not watch it till then. If they do not watch it how would you know if they are enjoying it or not and therefore a parallel industry will not get set out. So it’s an extremely chicken and egg kind of situation. So we are here to change it and hopefully it will work.

Colors Infinity has been perceived as an innovative brand and has been appreciated at large by the audience. Colors which had come into picture in 2008 has not only been in the limelight for going in the right direction but has also expanded their wings in all direction by creating fictional, regional and also dipping its feet into the English genre.

On been asked how the BARC rating has been he says “See the fact is we need to look at consistency and see how Colors Infinity progresses. Consistency can be measured after 10-12 weeks and let’s see how it performs then. I have told you people that English has expended, penetration has grown in huge number. The fact of the matter is English has spread and there is going to be traction and huge viewers in that direction.”

The stage has not only created buzz in the nation but has also garnered a huge support from the top industry people. Quoting on this he says “There has been a lot of interest from the entire music industry so there will be a lot of celebrity guest on it because of the quality of the judges. Some have already started working with them behind the camera and are grooming and training them.”