MUMBAI: The Stage, which is India’s one and only English show, by Colors Infinity has successfully completed two editions and is on its way to start season 3. In a country which is ruled by Bollywood music, the evolution of English music has taken a special place in India. In the coming days, auditions for the third season will be happening in Bangalore on 27 August and 3 September in Mumbai. Auditions in other places such as NCR has already been completed.

The third season of The Stage has a new fascinating format. Earlier it was about solo performances, but this year the panel has been opened to groups, duets and acapella. Participants can send their audition online for shortlisting and they don’t have to travel long distances for auditioning.

Commenting on the English music show, Universal Music Group (UMG) CEO Devraj Sanyal who has been a part of the show as a judge right from the time it started, said, “The fact that The Stage still continues to be the number one English show is incredibly positive and it’s a sign of the times to come. The fact that where India it is right now and lifestyle in terms of music consumption, music growth and listenership, I think consumption of international music is growing. A few years ago international music was some 2-3 per cent, and now it's grown to 15 per cent and thereof. This is a huge sign and the fact that The Stage is supplementing that growth is the right thing. The kind of response we got even from the first season was literally a close to the last edition. Physically, Eshaan, Monica Vishal and I went for the Bombay audition and we couldn’t see the end of the line in Bandra and it was incredible. This is something that is expected from a Hindi show but getting this kind of response from an English show was just amazing. We saw the crowd and a room filled with more than 1,000 people out of which came the talent pool.”

Speaking of what he is looking forward to in the coming seasons, Sanyal said, “I want to see the quality of music grow. I want to see this show go to more and more places. It feels good when people from random places ask about the third edition."

He further added, "You can expect this kind of show in a tier one city, but in the tier two and three cities it’s impossible because they don’t speak English. But, The Stage is a big everywhere."

Sharing his expectations from the show he stated, “I expect not only great quality of voice but also songwriting. The reason why we have lots of International artists like Adele and other wonderful people in the world is because they are also songwriters. Among the talents that won in season 1, we have already seen some amazing songwriters.”

On the success of the show Devraj said, “For all four of us it is very exciting and which is why the lineup has not changed, the five of us have remained constant from year one. We all are busy people who work in different places, but the reason why the show is successful is because of the structure which is working. Viacom18 is very committed to pushing the show. Indigenous programming in English does not happen. Look at any channel - all of them have international shows brought and telecasted by them. Nobody creates English content in India. What Colors Infinity did was challenging, especially coming up with an English show in a country ruled by Bollywood. Colors Infinity is creating true English content. Its agenda to push English is the key thing that a channel can do at a time where India is upgrading. Today English is no longer a metro phenomenon. Even the kids in smaller town can speak English. They are getting a platform which otherwise could not have been possible. To me this year will be special as this year we are letting the audience to vote for the contestants. Every year we had arguments about whom to select. But this time even the audience will get the chance to decide long with us.”