The Music of the World Super Concert 2 proved to be an evening filled with talent from across the world and was well appreciated by the approximately 3,500 fans, who flocked the stadium for the cultural explosion that was planned for them.
The event, the second of its kind, hosted by Firefest Promotions, featured local, regional and international singers and actors, some visiting for the first time; some are household names. Among the much anticipated acts were Indian playback singer Kumar Sanu, Indian soap actors Karan and Abha and Caribbean chutney king KI Persad.
The evening got off to a sober start with Canada-based Guyanese Anil Singh performing his renditions of Bollywood and chutney music much to the amazement of those gathered at the Providence National Stadium. Singh was backed up by Guyana’s number crossover band The Shakti Strings Orchestra. He sung a series of powerful Bollywood melodies such as “Tu Jaan Se Pyara” among others, during his approximately 25 minutes performance. He also distributed several CDs with his music.
Guyanese superstar, Devindra Puran, came on stage and soothed the atmosphere and transformed the audience. Puran performed lyrics sung by Indian superstars such as Mukesh and Mohammed Rafi. The overseas-based Guyanese did not fail to impress the crowd as he opened with Indian classic “Oh Mehebooba” and had the crowd singing along with him.
He went on to pay tribute to India’s first superstar, the late Rajesh Khanna, through his music with the song “Maine Tere Liye Hi Saat Rang Ke” from the movie Anand. Puran continued the musical journey by serenading the audience with a series of songs sung by Rafi. He made his presence felt when he delivered his signature song “Guyana is My Country”. At this point in his performance he had the audience, especially the older generation, in frenzy as he continued with his 30 minutes performance.
Accompanied by the Firefest dancers was local artiste and promoter/organizer of the concert, Mahendra Ramkellawan who officially launched his newest singles “Buss a Chune” and “Dem Say Me is She Man”. Ramkellawan showed his love for the audience and thanked them for making the show a success.
As the time came for the much awaited performances, the first one was that of the legendary playback singer, Kumar Sanu. To date, Sanu has sung over 17,500 songs and made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for singing 28 songs in one day. Sanu has been the voice for Bollywood heartthrobs like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Amir Khan among hundreds of others. Sanu came on stage a few minutes after midnight and opened with “Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain” from the movie Pardes and had the audience screaming the lyrics with him. He transformed the atmosphere to that of a Bollywood arena.
He took the reins of the crowd for approximately one hour and serenaded them with his voice and had everyone, young and old, screaming his lyrics. Sanu’s troupe just complimented his music excellently as it blasted through the speakers of the National Stadium. He thanked the Guyanese audience for their appreciation of his music at the same time dubbing them “music minded”.
He performed approximately 15 songs over his period on stage and was accompanied by female playback singer, Rachna Chopra, who complimented his music with her melodious voice. The duo ended their performance with Guyana’s all time favourite song “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.”
The much awaited act of the night was that of Indian soap actors Karan and Abha. The duo, decked in red, made their way onstage through the crowd and immediately began their performance. They opened with a romantic song and showed their onscreen chemistry through their dance and as Karan lifted Ahba in the air and danced. This move was loved by the audience as they just kept screaming their names. “Karan and Abha we love love you,” the ladies kept screaming as they performed.
The duo completely immersed in the love of the audience brought their backup dancers and performed a filmi number. Their performance was well orchestrated and coincided excellently with their backgrounds.
They were later joined by Ramkellawan and performed to his songs. They ended their sequel onstage by thanking the audience for their love.
KI and his band JMC3Veni took to the stage and began to hype the crowd. KI took the stage some time after 2.30 am and was later joined by Neval Chatelal who mesmerized the crowd with his melodious voice. He pelted tunes such as “Ishq Sufiyana” and many others from famous Bollywood movies. Chatelal was well loved by the females in the crowd as they screamed his name. They were later joined by Neeshad M from the JMC3Veni band as the three collaborated to give the crowd a memorable end as they brought the curtains down on the show.
They belted a combination of chutney, Soca and R&B music and had the crowd in frenzy. The females could not get enough of the three hunks on stage as they made their exit leaving them wanting more.
Also performing for the first time in Guyana was Nadia Madhoo. As she took the mike she made her presence felt. Although she had little movements on stage and rarely, verbally, interacted with the audience but allowed her music to make her presence felt. She had the national stadium coming alive when she performed Indian item song “Beedi Jalaile”. Avinash Maharaj dubbed Trinidad and Tobago’s youngest vocalist, performed songs by Sonu Nigam and Mohammed Rafi. However, his performance was extremely high pitched and at times caused tension to the ear especially to the persons in front of the speakers. The “little master” ended his performance on a high note with the audience loving the performance of Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite”.
In between of performances the crowd was entertained by saucy dance items from the Firefest dancers, Ishara dance troupe and the Apsara dance troupe.
The stage was also graced with the presence of Miss India Worldwide, the beautiful, Alana Seebarran.
