MUMBAI: Renowned names from the Indian music scene like Raghu Dixit, Benny Dayal, Aditi Singh and Monali Thakur, will be judging the digital reality show ‘Closeup WebSinger,’ which is an initiative by #fame. What's more, Pritam has been roped in as the chief judge and mentor to the participants. The competition will consist of six seasons spread over two months each.

The show will not only give India its first ever digital singing competition but will also mark the digital debut of Pritam, who is the music composer of songs like ‘Phir Le Aayaa Dil’ and ‘Tum Hi Ho Bandhu.’

The search for India’s first WebSinger has begun.

Talking about the property, #fame CEO Saket Saurabh said, “Closeup Websinger is a digital talent hunt show led by music director Pritam that will discover and showcase the next wave of superstar singers. This digital initiative will have music director Pritam as the chief judge and mentor to participants. It will be the perfect platform for contestants to make an impact on the global stage.”

#fame has identified five additional markets in South East Asia like Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines and has 50,000 content creators across six countries.

In November, last year when the digital platform announced the property, it did not have Close-up as the title sponsor. However, #fame managed to get the brand on board now. Commenting on this association, Saurabh said, “Closeup has always had an iconic association with music, one of the biggest passion points of the Indian audience. Digital is increasingly becoming the go to destination for the youth to discover and voice their opinion. As the brand, was looking at capturing a new generation, ‘Closeup Websinger’ felt like a natural fit.”

#fame has over 5,000 channels on music, food, fashion, comedy, Bollywood, cricket, tech and liv you fame among others.

Talking about venturing into the music IP, Saurabh averred, “Through #fame, we help talent reach the right audience and also identify and tap opportunities for them to grow and make the most of what they can gain. I believe there is a lot of hidden talent in the music space that still needs to be explored, so we decided to launch India’s first digital music show ‘WebSinger,’ which will serve as a platform to the young aspirants.”

The digital platform is also looking at bringing in more shows in the future. “Our aim with properties is to not only create meaningful content for our audience, but to also play true to our role of a talent discovery platform, reaching out to emerging talent. We have already broadcast properties like ‘Lakme School of Style,’ which is a first of its kind fashion video magazine that brings the newest trends and happenings from the fashion world. We have multiple properties in the pipeline that we will announce soon,” Saurabh pointed out.