Ti & Nokia’s Big Idea Big App Competion

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Talentidols is proud to announce that it has collaborated with Nokia Pakistan to launch the much –awaited Big Idea Big App competition. Part of Nokia’s IdeasProject campaign, the competition seeks to be a win-win one for both Talentidols and Nokia Pakistan as we seek to bring those hidden ideas of mobile phone apps to the forefront which are relevant to our country and have a contribution in the well being of the society, in return for some exciting prizes.

The competition started on 7th December, 2012 and has since then gathered enthusiastic interest from mobile fans and tech-savvy youngsters from all over Pakistan. The competition requires people to give their ideas for mobile phone apps that they would like to use and see developed. And what better way for Talentidols & Nokia Pakistan to gauge what is in those intelligent talented minds than to ask the people themselves?

Hence we launched this competition where we have had ideas pouring in which would make worthwhile and attractive cell phone apps. Not only is this activity a positive step by Talentidols and Nokia Pakistan to boost the tech-saviness of its target market but it also gives the opportunity to win multiple prizes in the bargain. And the prizes offered are definitely something to boast about. Check them out:

1st Prize: Nokia Asha 311 + Rs. 15,000 Cash

2nd Prize: Nokia Asha 311 + Rs. 10,000 Cash

3rd Prize: Nokia Asha 311 + Rs. 5,000 Cash

Really good aren’t they? And why wouldn’t we offer the best for your brilliant idea store, your brain! So why don’t you give it a try too? There has got to be some idea, be it simple, practical, big, small, weird, wacky, anything, at the back of your mind that would create a brilliant mobile phone app! So why not let it out and participate in the competition, let your idea win, get it developed by Nokia Pakistan and win amazing prizes too? Sounds like a deal doesn’t it?

I can see you all already racking your brains for ideas now! But do hurry up guys. Submissions in the Nokia Asha Big Idea Big App competition are just open for a few days now. Submit your cell phone app idea videos now at the Talentidols portal by visiting www.talentidols.com/nokia and uploading your idea by the 11th January, 2013.

Make yourself win, APP-SOLUTELY!

Of ‘Sayeen’ singers

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‘Sayeen toh sayeen, aj kal kay singers bhee sayeen!”

So I bet you all have heard the latest T20 Cricket World Cup song by Ufone ‘Tum hee toh ho Sayeen”? What do you all think of it? I guess there are no surprises that Ali Gul Pir, the much renowned celebrity on Social Media these days was approached to sing for Ufone. We all know how his ‘Sayeen’ song named ‘Wadera ka beta’ , a political satire on the Sindhi feudal lord system, had become a viral hit with 700,000 views on Youtube in just a matter of a 10 days and with tremendous memes, gags, and troll jokes making the rounds on Facebook, Twitter, Google plus and what not. Fake ‘sayeen’ mustaches, shorts, T-shirts were made and sold in the sayeen song’s honour as the song, without a doubt, proved to be the biggest and most successful social media campaign in recent times.

We’ve all heard of singers moving on to become actors in the Pakistan Film/music Industry but have you ever heard of comedians becoming singers? Yes. That is indeed what the famous Ali Gul Pir is. A comedian turned singer turned a-great-inspiration-for-the-youth-of-Pakistan.

 

And THAT is exactly what Ufone banked on. The brand’s essence of youth and with the T20 cricket world cup under way what better opportunity to strike while the iron is hot! And so Ali Gul Pir made his singing debut on ‘official’ television (PS: What do you reckon would be the views on YouTube by now had it not been blocked in Pakistan?). But mind you he was not the ONLY one to do make that debut! Ever heard of cricketers becoming singers? Well here you have it! Wasim Akram, the ex-captain of the Pakistan Cricket team and sensational fast bowler, made his singing debut in the ‘Tum hee toh ho sayeen’ song too! Woahhh! AND the song is turning out to be ANOTHER viral hit!! Next thing we’ll hear of is doctors becoming singers and pilots becoming singers and wait for it….Pakistani politicians becoming singers!

They say singers are born, not made. That the passion for music comes from within the soul and then built into a powerful impact shown to the world which in turn creates recognition for the singers and their talent. The same was true for Pakistani singers, for the golden era of singers indeed had that talent, that aura with which they sang. Even if we skip singers like Mehndi Hasan and Noor Jahan, we still have singers from the era of the 90s that had immense talent nurtured over the years. Take Junaid Jamshed, Sajjad Ali, Ali Haider, Faisal Kapadia, Bilal Maqsood, Fakre-Alam and Nazia Hasan for example. They worked hard towards their singing careers. Didn’t they steal our hearts away with the beauty of their voices?

Can we say the same thing about emerging singers today? Today singers have it easy. Write some lyrics (they need not make sense!), pick up a camera, sing, record a video and upload the video on YouTube. Do that, then use the best social media efforts and BAM, you’re recognized as a sensational singer! So what about talent then? Do we really feel that singers today HAVE that ingredient called ‘talent’ with which they used to get recognized in the past? I recently came across a portal called www.Talentidols.com on which currently a singing talent based competition is running. It felt heartening to see that there is indeed a digital platform, a real ‘talent’ portal that is consolidating the singing talent of many in the form of videos, helping them come into the spotlight and get recognized. So is social media playing an important role in the success of evolving singers now? Indeed it is.

Cricket New Rules Alert!

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So yet again we get to see some new rules in the game that ‘rules’ our minds and souls; cricket! And some of them, mind you, are very very interesting hmmm…So here they go!

Has a cricket fan ever heard of Day and Night test matches? Yep you read it right so you can all close your shocked mouths now! Cricketing countries will now be allowed to have day and night matches. Though the duration per day for the matches have not been fixed and the colour of the balls have yet to be decided (will it be a white ball or a pink ball?), it seems like a very shocking step to take for this form of the game. Those who have always enjoyed test cricket in bright daylight and the apprehension of matches/series being decided JUST on the basis of bad light will know what I mean.

On the other hand, in ODIs bowlers are allowed to ball 2 bouncers in an over! Hayay bowlers ki toh Eid hogaee! :D What would I not have done to see the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and ofcourse Shoaib Akhtar playing now :( Oh well. Not to say we don’t have lethal fast bowlers whose performances are to die for even now. :)

The best change yet in the rules is that of a No-Ball. The third umpire will, from now on, immediately check any no-ball bowled without the request of the on-field umpires who previously, used  to check the legality of the delivery with the third umpire only if they were in doubt. Through this rule the third-umpire has the authority to call back a dismissed batsman if he was out on a no-ball. Fair enough. So while bowlers have the freedom to bowl 2 bouncers, they must not get too complacent. Kyunkay beta, you can’t get away with no-balls no more :p

So what do you all think of these recent changes on cricketing rules? Do they add to the spirit of the game? Or are such rapid changes in the game actually getting to you in some way?

Bakra Eid round the corner!

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With Bakra Eid (Eid-ul-Azha) less than a week away, the excitement meter in my life has taken a great leap. I LOVE Bakra Eid! And I LOVE eating. AND I am a hardcore non-vegetarian (who takes her non vegetarian-ness VERY seriously, mind you.). So you put all that together and you can see why I am so thrilled, counting the days till it’s Bakra Eid and I get to…yippyyyy….gobble down the yummy meaty dishes! :D

But apart from the Bakra Eid itself where mothers get busy in the kitchen cooking kaleji (goat liver) or where children come home from Eid prayers and animatedly tell their mothers how they saw so-and-so cow and goat being slaughtered , the whole environment leading up to the festival is kinda enthralling isn’t it?

Bakra Eid celebrations, in actuality, begin a week or ten days before Eid itself. Excited children team up with their elders to go to the cattle market, famously known as the ‘bakra mandi’ and choose the biggest animal as their fantasies to take home with themselves. But one answer (the price) from the person selling it and their excitement slumps as the bigger the animal, the higher the price. After vehement negotiations, patting of goats, cows and animals, some people checking their teeth, others checking their ears, a conclusion is reached and families happily take their animals home, on the way discussing how so-and-so other man had offered a much better bargain.

Once home, the excitement does not stop! No way! That’s when it actually begins as a matter of fact.  Animals are taken for walks (runs, infact!), fed as though there will be no tomorrow, and wait for it, DECORATED as though they’d be entered for the Mr.World Competition of cattle. Many push garlands over their necks, stick stars on their bodies and even paint them with vibrant colours. The prettier the sacrificial animal, the greater the satisfaction.

Such a colourful ‘dil khush; (Happy heart) festival indeed. AND ofcourse, not to miss the final day of Eid when you sacrifice the animal you spent so much time with, gave so much love to; that being the true spirit of Eid-ul-Azha, when we truly sacrifice for the sake of our Hereafter, remember the relatives and poor by distributing them a portion of the sacrifice and ofcourse *cough* have lots of yummy dishes cooked by our mothers. Am for one and SO excited to have mutton biryani! Aren’t you?

The Bathroom Singing trend

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While randomly working in the kitchen one day something hit me. (You know, the random thoughts that hit you while you’re washing dishes or cleaning the stove? Those ones.) It hit me that a) I was humming some latest song, something that I had not done in a while and b) that I had actually REALIZED that I was humming and wait for it c) that involuntarily I had begun to identify WHY we humans hum and WHERE we humans often hum. The first one was easy so my mind worked on coming up with this whole list of places where a person would normally hum/sing.

And ofcourse the first that came to my mind was the BATHROOM (which is weird because I was in the kitchen at that time lol). Though the bathroom these days is much more famous for scrunched-up-lip pictures that the youth take in it, I realized that there was once a time the bathroom was famous for singing. So how did the term ‘Bathroom singing’ or ‘Singing in the shower’ originate? Surely it must have come about after a number of people were heard enthusiastically singing from behind locked (bathroom) doors right? Again, my ‘kitchen overworked’ mind tried to come up with a logical explanation. And this is what I came up with.

So people went to the bathroom to shower. And since a shower was synonymous to relaxing (haven’t you heard people lighting perfumed candles while taking a bath just so their senses are lightened resulting in relaxation?) , they ensured their mind was free of all stress. And since the mind was tranquil, the soul in turn was peaceful and the brain was sent positive vibes. A positive brain equals to a happy brain (well, in most cases!) and a happy brain results in joy which in turn results in humming/singing since there is no doubt that singing is a product of happiness (again in most cases!) of the spirit. So there. That was the conclusion I reached about how bathroom singing originated.

I may be completely wrong. Maybe bathroom singing originated from the completely opposite phenomena (though I hope that is not the case). Perhaps people don’t sing in the bathroom out of happiness. Perhaps they sang out of sorrow as the bathroom was the only private place that gave them solitude with their sad thoughts and an opportunity to be, well, reflective about life. But whatever the origination, what is important is that it continues to reign our present life with the ‘bathroom’ itself offering greater varieties of opportunities; the most well-known one being a photo booth for teenagers :p

YouTube Ban and Brand dilemma

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While the indefinite ban on YouTube in Pakistan on one hand may be the least of the worries Pakistani citizens are facing, on the other hand it is indeed a serious setback for well-known brands in Pakistan who rely on their YouTube channels to carry out their digital marketing campaigns.

It is no secret that Social Media is gaining a strong foothold in the Marketing world and while conventional marketing may have its long term benefits, social media gives brands quantitative results and feedback on an immediate basis, infact has the added advantage of being ongoing too. YouTube is one such medium where brands like Dalda, Habib Oil, Engro, Red-bull ,Samsung, Nokia, Ufone, Masala TV and many more have channels which form a great part of their marketing campaigns. And with YouTube gone, these brands will have to rethink their strategies, don’t you think?

Talentidols.com though can give all these brands a run for their money. Like Youtube, Talentidols too hosts videos and competitions. It has all that YouTube has and what is great about it is that Talentidols, unlike YouTube, has a stringent moderation process for the video content uploaded on it. So any random guy cannot just post an anti-religious video and get away with. AND the best part is…guess what? It’s NOT banned in Pakistan!

So how about all these brands come to Talentidols.com and use it as a medium to hold their marketing campaigns? Would be quite cool wouldn’t it? :D

Talentidols Prize Distribution Event

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With almost a year up to the portal Talentidols.com going LIVE, many talent based competitions on it getting successful and more and more participants joining each day, we at Talentidols decided it was the right time to personally meet our winners. A brilliant idea in the form of a Prize Distribution Ceremony was carried out giving ALL the winners of Talentidols competitions a common platform (this time a physical one!) to come together and collect their prizes!!

 

 

The Prize Distribution Ceremony began with Mr. Amyn Ghulamali, Sales and Marketing Head of Talentidols, giving a brief introduction about Talentidols and the purpose for having all the winners together.

 

 

Then followed Mr.Khalid Siddiqui, Manager Operations, who talked in detail, about the opportunities that Talentidols presents to its target market. He spoke of how Talentidols is the only digital platform to recognize talent in Pakistan through its various competitions on the portal, how Talentidols has been successful in partnering with big brands like Dalda, Radio FM 91,PAF-KIET, The Knowledge Factory and Pro Pakistani to get maximum digital marketing mileage and how the future vision of Talentidols is to make it as popular as the shows American and Idian Idol! (PS: Ofcourse, he also spoke of the familiar faces he could see seated in the winners’ stand for they were the ones who had participated in the video competitions on Talentidols and won the prizes!)

Finally the moment that all Talentidols winners were waiting for arrived and the prizes were announced for the following competitions.

 

-Be My Valentine
-Zabaan Sambhaal Kay
-Dalda Love or Hate a Restaurant
-Awaaz Neechay
-Cell Phone of the Month
-Drama of the Month
-Laugh Out Loud- Part 1
-Facebook Contests

 

Winners received their prizes with glee and talked about their satisfying experience by being a part of Talentidols, promising greater participation in the future to strengthen their chances of winning more prizes.

The ceremony was followed by a photo session and refreshments which were thoroughly enjoyed by the winners. All in all it was a great event. Bringing together all the winners helped bring out positive energy in the internal team of Talentidols as well who strove to work harder to make this complete Competition Solution a greater success!

 

Talentidols: MORE Cash Prizes!

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The second round of monthly competitions on Talentidols.com of September is finally close to getting over. And we at Talentidols are ecstatic that it is turning out to be a great success! We have much more balanced submissions in each competition , a great increase in our reach, and a massive boost in our fans too! This could only mean one thing; You guys are loving Talentidols more and more each day! :p
Seeing the success of the Laugh Out Loud competition in August, we had decided to continue with it in September too and we are proud to see that once again, you guys are enjoying it immensely! The Cell Phone competitions have always been a huge hit with all of you and so have all the competitions in the entertainment industry which include the Drama and Movie competitions. A competition in this category that is worth mentioning is the Singing competition! Woahhh! :D We are happily surprised to see SO many people with the talent of singing and many more who have trusted Talentidols.com as their claim to fame! Keeping in mind the T20 World Cup making the rounds we had also chipped in with a Sports Tricks competition which has done amazingly well! Never knew you all could play the game and use it for carrying out tricks as well! :D

The competitions, however, are not over YET! There is still ONE day left for you all to go ahead and participate in all these competitions before submissions end. Whether it is showing your talent for sports antics or singing or to talking critically about your favourite cell phone or movie, or just to randomly make people laugh, Talentidols.com has all this and MORE in store for you with wonderful CASH prizes and other gifts in the baggage EVERY MONTH! So do stay tuned for MORE competitions in the month of October, again, all of them based on your favourite categories! :D

So not only will you have FUN participating, but Talentidols makes sure you WIN with the fun! Afterall, who doesn’t like Cash prizes? :D

Bollywood LOVES London! <3

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So is it just me or is Bollywood really getting comfy with London? Don’t you all see SO many Bollywood movies being shot there in recent times? It’s like London is Bollywood’s second home, innit?

In the past only big producers like Yash Chopra and Subhash Ghai could afford to make London their production spots. But it seems now, that the trend is fast changing. Gone are the days when we saw the King’s Cross Station in London only through the eyes of the romantic dreamer Simran (Kajol) in Dil Wale Dulhaniya le Jayaygay or the famous Leicester Square through the eyes of Rohan (Hrithik Roshan) in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. With the Indian film industry booming every year, indeed we get to see more and more productions in one of the most expensive cities of the world; London.

The approximate statistics of Bollywood movies shot in London that I could come up with was 40 productions in a year! FORTY! :O I toh don’t even remember WATCHING that many movies in a year! And did you know that there are cinema halls in London that are dedicated ONLY to casting Bollywood flicks? :O And that there is a “Bollywood Britain Map” that has all the famous locations of Britain, especially London, where all the Bollywood movies are shot? Quite an amazing contribution to the London economy isn’t it?

And indeed wiith movies like London Dreams, Namaste London, Salam-e-Ishq, Goal, Love Aj Kal and the more recent Desi Boyz and Cocktail to name a few, the love affair of Bollywood with London continues to grow stronger. Indeed, I feel it my obligation to tell you that I am not complaining! For my own love for London crosses many boundaries. The place is just so magical that I would watch the movie shot there even if it had an awful story and poor acting. Producers know this about the audience for I am sure everyone of you who has visited London feels the same and those who haven’t feel themselves mesmerised while watching it in a movie! Yep. They know how to play with heart strings, these producers. Good work guys.

London and Bollywood, you better not break up! Please. <3