Maithili Thakur & Tannishtha Puriwins‘i-genius Young Singing StarsSeason II’ Grand Finale

Winners from Junior and Senior Group’s to record an album with Universal Music Group

Mumbai, December10, 2015: Max Life Insurance, one of the leading life insurers in India and leading music label Universal Music India,today announced Maithili Thakur &Tannishtha Purias winners of  ‘i-genius Young Singing StarsSeason II’.

The Grand Finale witnessed outstanding performances by the 10 finalists. The 10 were chosen by a jury including Salim Merchant & Shraddha Sharma, from over one lakhentries received from across the country.  The two winners from the junior and senior categoriesTannishtha Puri&Maithili Thakurrespectively have won an opportunity to record their own album.  5 top winners from the Primary category will feature in a special music video, and the4 finalists each from Junior & Senior Group win a contract eachto record a single.

After the grand success of ‘i-genius Young Singing Stars’ in 2014, Max Life Insurance launched ‘i-genius Young Singing StarsSeason II’ in 2015. The programme has become a huge success and has attracted the interest of over 2.5 lakh participants who registered for the programme in the last two years. The programme has provided an exciting platform for aspiring and talented young singing stars aged between 4-15 years to have their songs heard by industry professionals and come one step closer to realizing a dream of recording their own music album. Through a rigorous three-phase selection process, the panel of jury shortlisted many top performers.  Following this, a video conferencing round was used to finalise the top 10who went through mentoring sessions with Salim Merchant and Shraddha Sharma.

Commenting on the programme, Mr. Rajesh Sud, CEO and Managing Director, Max Life Insurance said,“We are extremely excited with the response that our ‘i-genius young singing stars’ programme is continuing to receive since its launch in 2014. It is a privilege for usto be able to nurture the future talent of the country by giving them a platform to showcase their talent. Our i-genius programme which was launched in 2010 has become a benchmark and has connected with over 26.5 lakh children from across the country through our various initiatives including i-genius Scholarship and Young Authors Hunt programme.”

Commenting on the occasion, DevrajSanyal, Managing Director – Universal Music Group and EMI South Asia said, “The amazing response to the Max Life i-genius Young Singing Stars continues in Season 2. Yet again we have seen the entries surpassing the figure of 1 lakh. What makes this season special is the quality of talent, which has surpassed that of Season 1 by miles and is unparalleled to any other singing platform that I have seen in this age group. I am very proud of the way this program is shaping up and I can’t wait to start working in the studio with these stars of the new generation.”

Commenting on the occasion, Salim Merchant, Jury & Brand Ambassador said, “The quality of talent we have seen in Season 2 of Max Life i-genius Young Singing Stars has been truly astonishing. As an industry professional, you want to encourage every child that is giving their 100% but as a judge, given the level of talent that I witnessed, in all honesty, I had a hard time choosing them from the initial pool itself.  The passion that these young children have shown when combined with the right mentoring will help them go a long way in becoming the future stars of our industry.”

About i-genius Young Singing Stars Season 2

The participation for i-genius Young Singing Stars Season 2 wasopen to all children from 4 years to 15 years of age in three categories: i-genius Primary- 4-7 yrs,  i-genius Junior – 8 – 11 yrs and i-genius Senior – 12-15 years from all over India. The programmeranin four phases-:

• Phase 1: Online registration was opened to the participantswho could register online at www.igenius.org or through physical registration forms that were available at all Max Life offices
  • The above was to be followed by a one minute audio submission on IVR number 92500 32222 or via an online widget on www.igenius.org
• Phase 2:In the next phase Digital Auditions were held in select cities in each region through video-conferencing which were evaluated by the jury
• Phase 3: Selected kids received mentoring from the Brand Ambassadors
• Phase 4 (Finale): After receiving training from the mentors, the kids performed at a grand finale event where 1 winner was selected from Junior & Senior Group and won an album recording contract with Universal Music Group and 4 finalists each from Junior & Senior Group will won a contract for a single song. 5 top winners from Primary group got an opportunity to be featuredin a special music video. Additionally, 600 winners received CD Hampers as consolation prizes.

About i-genius (http://www.igenius.org)

Max Life Insurance launched the annual i-genius Scholarship in 2010 with a vision to promote all round talent among children. It is corporate India’s largest scholarship programme that has been able to connect with over 26.5 lakh children in just five years and has awarded Scholarships worth over Rs.4 crore to over 5000 children. In 2013 year Max Life launched a unique initiative called the i-genius Young Authors Hunt, where a book titled i-genius A Twist in the Tale with 50 best stories was published. Max Life Insurance also anchors a unique parenting community on Facebook with over 3.64 Lakh members who engage regularly on various aspects of parenting. In 2014, the first season of ‘i-genius Young Singing Stars’ was launched which was received with great enthusiasm.