Dubai, Oct 23: After lot of speculation, suspense, nail biting and nerve wrecking wait and a glittering final ceremony it was the voice of Kuwait Gladys Lorena  and voice of UAE Ivan Fernandes who walked away with top honours emerging as the gulf voices of Mangalore 2010 by exhibiting the nerves of steel and by rising to the big occasion in their characteristic style. Preema Pinto of Qatar and Warren D Souza of Kuwait were the runners up in the female and male category respectively.  The winners   won the top prize of Rs one lac each of the prize money   and the crown.  The runners up won Rs. 50,000- each in a thrilling final that kept the audience on their toes till the last minute.

The long suspense finally ended with the declaration of the winners and there was jubilation in the camp of the respective countries to which the winners and runners up belonged.  It was a historic final to a historic event, the memories of which will linger on for months and years to come in which all the performers acted their roles with finesse that called for considering the enormity of the event.

The suspense of the audience was heightened after the elimination round where only 3 finalists each from both the categories were shortlisted to perform in the final round.  In this Preema Pinto, Gladys Lorena and Veera Rodrigues booked their place for the final round in the female category and Warren D Souza, Rupert Lobo and Ivan Rodrigues had made it to the final round by their class performance. So it was their performance in the final round which decided their fate and in this final round Gladys Lorena and Ivan Fernandes gave a performance of high caliber that tipped the scales in their favour to outclass and outwit their closest competitors.  Chief Guest Ronald Colaco crowned the winners and Michael D Souza crowned the runners up.

The day all the Konkani music lovers across the countries of the gulf region who were impatiently looking forward to, had finally arrived and it can be said that it was a fitting finale to an event that had taken months of intense preparations, hard work, suspense, ecstasy and jubilations that was evident at the finals of GVOPM 2010 held at Sheik Rashid Auditorium.   All the 12 finalists in this nerve wrecking and suspense-filled finals performed to the best of their abilities and the audiences were left asking for more. That was Gulf Voice of Mangalore (GVOM) 2010.

But ultimately any contest can have only one winner in each category and so is in the case of GVOM which had aroused the curiosity and enthusiasm of all Konkani music lovers not only in the gulf region but also in the Konkani speaking areas of different parts of the country.  The Sheik Rashid Auditorium was jam packed with guests and audiences who had arrived from different parts of the gulf region to witness the gala show.  The finalists performed as per their expectations and the audiences relished the finer moments when there was nothing but soothing music that calmed the nerves and entertained the mind.

The eventful programme which can be termed as the biggest entertainment extravaganza of the year in this part of the gulf region began with a traditional welcome to the finalists and the office bearers of the local organizers of each participating countries who had played a pivotal role in organizing the event successfully making way for today’s finals.  They were welcomed with traditional music and band. 
 
Chief Guest of the programme Ronald Colaco inaugurated the event by releasing the barrel (kalshi) wrapped in a cloth that symbolized brining to light the hidden talent among the Konkani speaking Diaspora spread across the gulf region. Bringing to light the hidden talent among the Konkani speaking people was further symbolized by filling this kalshi with rice by the guests on the dais Sudhir Shetty, CEO of UAE Exchange, Hilda Pais, Stany D Souza, Michael D Souza, Manu D Souza, Lancy Madtha and Chief Co-coordinators of the organizers of GVOM 2010 Mangalore Konkans, Valerian Peris, James Mendonca, President Santhosh Nazareth and Linus Moras.

Chief coordinator of the programme Valerian Peris of the Mangalore Konkans in his welcome speech expressed his gratitude to all the sponsors, media partners and all others who have contributed their mite in making the programme a grand success. 

The assembled audience missed the charisma and presence of Konkan Kogul late Wilfy Rebimbus. The members of St Mary's choir revoked the memories of Wilfy by singing the chorus of many of his popular Konkani songs and Lancy Madhtha did the next best thing of singing a song written exclusively in memory of late Wilfy. Even the finalists did not allow the memories of Wilfy go out from the minds of the people as many of them sang his songs for the competition in all the three rounds.

Compere of the overall programme Roshan D Silva provided the initial impetus to the programme ahead and then master compere the one and only Leslie Rego took over the mike and the stage to begin the most important section of the programe i.e the process of selecting the gulf voice of Mangalore 2010.  Keeping in mind the general trend of giving first reference to ladies it was the female finalists who first came to the stage with Gladys Lorena representing Kuwait being the first singer as their order of performance was decided by lots.  The momentum of the programme got picked up by the time the contestants had finished the first round of singing. 

After the first round there was a short break from music for the finalist.  During this short break chief guest Ronald Colaco along with Santosh Nazareth  President of Mangalore Konkans released the souvenir brought out by Mangalore Konkans to mark the occasion.  A CD  dedicated to late Wilfy Rebimbus "Tu Gaytana" composed by Wilson Olivera''' was also released on the occasion by Veena Pais Rebimbus, daughter of late Wilfy Rebimbus.

The second round of the contest was the duet performance by the finalist from their respective countries and this round was dedicated to Konkan Kogul late Wilfy Rebimbus. After the final rounds there was tension and suspense as only three contestants from each category could make it to the finals after the elimination round. With the jury requiring time to decide on the finalists it was time for some entertainment and Dolla and his troupe Rita Melwyn D’ Almeida presented a comedy play “Ghov Nathllya Velar” that sent the audience into a riot of laughter. 

This was followed by the major attraction of the event  I e body building show by Mr World Raymond D Souza, who exhibited his muscular body to the tunes of the famous song of Alisha Chinoy ‘Made in India’ and the audience expressed their appreciation  as the auditorium reverberated with their  thunderous applause.  

Comedy by Dolla and his troupe consisting of Rita and Melwyn D Almeida (Mellu) created laughter riot among the audience with their down-to earth comedy.  Jury members Claud D Souza and Reena D Souza entertained the assembled gathering   with some foot tapping numbers of yesteryears.  In the final round of contest all the three contestants were asked to sing legendary Jerome D Souaz’s number “Mai  to’ and their overall performance including that of the final round played   a major role in deciding the winners of the contest.   The finals were as spectacular as the euphoria generated by the event in the last one month of semifinals held in the respective countries.  

Master compere  the one and only Leslie Rego regaled the audience with his flawless conducting of the entire programme.  Before the announcements nof the final results the  organizers   felicitated all the 12 finalists who were responsible for the success of the event. 

In his concluding remarks chief guest Ronald   Colaco said the efforts and hard work put in by the organizers Mangalore Konkans connot be belittled due to the technical snags faced during initial the competions.  He said the efforts of the organizers were much more valuable that whatever financial help he has provided to the organizers. Editor in Chief of Daijiworld.com commented that all the credit for the success of GVOM 2010 should go to the organizers Mangalore Konkans for their relentless efforts to make the show a grant success. 

The office bearers of Mangalore Konkans, the organizers of GVOM 2010 announced the name of the organization which has taken up the responsibility of conducting the mega event after two years.   Mangalore Konkans leaders , Valerian Peris, James Mendonca, and Leinus Moras announced that the responsibility of organizing the next GVOM was given to MCA, Doha Qatar.  The office bearers of MCA headed by its leader Harry Lobo took over the rolling trophy much to the excitement of the capacity crowd the decision.

A cultural dance programme also formed a part today’s final programme with members of Ocean Kids presenting their dance numbers. 

Despite the porogramme running behind schedule the assembled gathering maintained their cool and cooperated with the organizers.

Associate coordinator of the programme James  Mendonca  proposed  the vote of thanks. 

Daijiworld.com had made elaborate arrangements to bring live the webcast of the entire final event.

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