MUMBAI: Zee Salaam, the Urdu infotainment channel from Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel), has announced the launch of its first singing reality show, Talaash… Ek Roohani Awaaz Ki.

Starting 19 February, the show will search for the talent of Urdu singers among kids between the ages of 7-14 years. The show will air every Saturday and Sunday at 8 pm.

The channel claims that the show has a unique concept that aims to give an opportunity to young, new talented voices from within the Indian Muslim community. Renowned Urdu genre television personalities Fakhir Adeeb and Shagufta Yasmin are the hosts of the show.

Comprising 26 episodes, this talent hunt singing reality show will select participants through auditions held across Muslim schools and Madrasas in Delhi and NCR. Film writer, producer and director Iqbal Durrani, Bollywood music director and singer Ali Ghani and Islamic scholar Sadia Halima have been appointed as judges. Urdu writer and shayar Abrar Kirat Puri is the programme mentor.

Zee Salaam business head Anil Anand said, After our initial phase of introductory content offering the channel now enters year two with programming line ups that showcases reality content, which is the most popular genre in television programming today. This show is in line with our channel positioning Aghaaz-e-Taraqqi i.e. initiation of development. The huge response of thousands of kids at the auditions reveals how much young talent there is in India....

More than 1,000 kids have been auditioned for the show in NCR. From among them, the top 100 were short listed for the theatre auditions round and the top 26 will participate in the show for the final title of singing �Hamd-O-Naat'.

Anand added, This year will see the introduction of Urdu reality shows for the first time in the genre, coupled with scaled up operations of the current content. Plans are underway to launch one hour live interactive show exclusively for Muslim women. The year also will witness content synergies with International Islamic television content providers....

The top prizes for Talaash...Ek Roohani Awaaz Ki include an album with the winner. The top three finalists will be brand ambassadors for Zee Salaam.