The fifth edition of Radio Mango’s Yamaha Alpha Nattile Tharam is in search of the best singer in Kerala. This mega reality event had the distinction of being awarded the first non- studio reality music show in the Limca Book of Records. A fleet of mobile studios complete with recording booths, sound engineers, and speakers will travel the length and breadth of Kerala, covering all 14 districts and 180 touch points.

In a conversation with Radioandmusic.com’s Dhairya Ingle, Radio Mango, Head - Business Operations Sunoj George Abraham spoke about the logistical issues, the judges for the event and a lot more.

Excerpts:

How different will this year’s Nattile Tharam be as compared to last year?

As a format we will remain the same. Nattile Tharam aims to reach out to the singer who has talent but has his limitations to go to the studio. Last year we have had about 8000 entries and this time we are expecting 9000 entries. The only thing that would change is that the number of vehicles used will be increased.

What was the motive behind tying up with Yamaha for the second time?

One of the reasons for partnering with Yamaha was that they were extremely happy with the response we have received last year. Both Nattile Tharam and Yamaha share the same target audience i.e. youth, so it definitely made sense to team up with them. We have also tied up with Mr Light, a consumer durable company. For the venues we have tied up with JT Pack, one of the best in-house auditoriums available in Kochi.

For how many days will the mobile van travel Kerala?

There will be a couple a vans, out of which one would go to the south and the other to the north for 33 days. The van will go around 14 districts of Kerala for 33 days and to 180 odd locations. The van covers three locations per day.

What are the logistical challenges that you foresee?

We have been organising Nattile Tharam for the past four years, so we know how to tackle the challenges. However, typically the main challenge would be the government restrictions and approvals in terms of carrying a studio in the vehicle. Safety of the vehicle is extremely important as we are customising the entire vehicle. Also we need to make sure that the studio works well.

What is the criterion for judging a singer and who are the judges this year?

Once the recording is done, we collect the data and the in-house team does the basic screening. Then we call the people for pre audition to eight different locations. When this is happening, we source external judges who are well known celebrities and they do the screening. Unlike last year, we decided to have the same panel of judges for all the eight locations. One of the panel members happens to be the well known singer Minmini, who sung the famous track’ Chinna Chinna Aasai’ for AR Rahman. So the person who really possesses talent will be given considered.

What are the strategies to promote Nattile Tharam?

We do have a print campaign our newspaper Malayalam Manorama and the auditions are supported by our channel Manorama News, with the online campaign running in parallel. We might have an outdoor campaign, but that would depend on the participation.