MUMBAI: Singer-composer Raghu Dixit says he refuses to sing covers on stage.

He also said that he looks up to musicians Ehsaan Noorani and Vishal Dadlani.

Dixit, who has crooned songs in Hindi, Kannada and Telugu, talked about the musicians when he joined them for judging Renault KWID presents The Stage 3, a music reality show for English singing talent in India.

The frontman of the contemporary Indian folk band The Raghu Dixit Project also praised the format of the show, which is aired on Colors Infinity.

"It's amazing to see how kids of that young age are truly performing at a very international level. I do hope that talent here eventually gets into singing original stuff as I'm a sucker for original music; I refuse to sing covers on stage and it's been so all my life," Dixit said in a statement.

He added: "For me to see them growing out of this contest is like a furnace through which they are molded and once they get out, they become what they're supposed to become. I hope everybody carries these lessons and applies them in the future and not look at it like 'oh I got eliminated so this is the end of it' or the winner saying 'oh I've won everything' - it could go both ways. This show is a great spring board because everyone is watching, the entire nation is now recognizing these people which is a really good thing.

"I hope they build their own names or bands and make India proud."

Talking about the judges, he said: "All of them are definitely people that I look up to, especially Vishal (Dadlani) and Ehsaan (Noorani) are people I really look up to as artists and how hard they've worked to get where they are and also how they still conduct themselves despite having achieved so much.

"Monica (Dogra) is a great friend and she's the hottest woman on the panel and the contest and of course Devraj (Sanyal) is somebody who I tried several times to impress with my recording but never did. All of them are great friends who I've known over the years and it's a great honour to be sitting with them."

(Source: IANS)