Many things come and go. Some things come and stay. Very few things come and create strong memories for life time. One such thing was the solo and duet singing competition organized by the St. Sebastian Church. On 27th November 2022, the Parish Pastoral Council organized a singing competition for the villages around Margao and few other selected parishes. With the due help and encouragement from the priests in the different parishes the organisers managed to group in something around 50 contestants. Of which 28 for solo singing and 10 for duet singing were selected after the audition for the finals. With no previous experience of organizing such an event it was a good success by any standards. A concept of singing competition in the town was created.
At the beginning of this year, seeing that there are enquiries and a strong demand to have a similar singing competition, a short meeting of likeminded parishioners was held on 1st January this year. A core committee was formed and the important issues like finance, publicity, solo & duet singing entries, musicians and booking of all necessary personnel was sorted out. The finals of the singing competition was fixed for 30th January 2024.
All publicity was effectively done through social media. Within ten days there were 96 confirmed entries. The organizing committee had to close the acceptance of the entries. The audition was held on 22nd January and the rehearsals took place on 26th January. The grand finals were held on 30th January with an audience of over thousand people. There were 26 finalists in solo singing and 6 in duet singing.
This year’s solo singing winners were:
1.Aarya da Costa from Gogol, Margao
2. Juella Fernandes from Seraulim
3. Jennifer Fernando from Aquem
Duet singing winners were:
1. Christie Barreto and Antush Pires from Navelim
2. Denzil Rodrigues & Clarina Fernandes from Dramapur
1st Prize – Rs. 15,000, 2nd Prize Rs. 10,000 and 3rd Prize Rs. 7,500 were for the solo singing. Cash prize of Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 7,500 were for first and second prize for duet singing respectively. This year Mr. Senon de Sousa and his group conducted and provided scintillating music for the melodious singers.
This year Mr. Felix Dias and Mrs. Antonette Fernandes were felicitated with a shawl, plaque and a gift. The felicitation was more out of gratefulness for all their life long help and assistance in church activities. Ms. Ashodi Ferro praised and thanked Mr. Felix Dias and Mrs. Antonette Fernandes on behalf of all St. Sebastian parishioners.
The whole singing competition was organized under the leadership of Parish Priest Fr. Andrew Pereira and project coordinator Mr. Desmond Gomes and assisted by enthusiastic core group and parish volunteers.
A big thanks to all the valued donors, singers and persons involved directly and indirectly in the project, which was a big success.