She is the first contestant from Tamil Nadu to make it to the reality show Indian Idol Junior. Nithyashree Venkataramanan, who has reached the top six of the ongoing season of the show, is excited to have made it so far and credits the support and encouragement she has received from all quarters.
Talking to City Express, the class XII student of SBOA School and Junior College (CBSE) says she never thought she would make the cut in the highly-competitive show, which is dominated by contestants from the northern belt.
She says, “I never liked Hindi and never did I imagine that I would come this far in a contest like this. I think that is the biggest beauty of music -- it has no language. It is music that has brought me this far.”
Impressing judges and guests on the show right from her audition rounds, Nithyashree Venkataramanan, who originally hails from Kerala, says she has been constantly working hard to overcome all the barriers. “I worked a lot on my pronunciation. My mentor and teacher Jaya Rajagopal, a prominent retro singer from Chennai, has spent a lot of time with me on this. Earlier, when I was preparing for the contest, she spent seven hours a day to correct my accent and even now, ahead of the rounds, I sing over the phone for her to correct and suggest changes. My sister, who is a Hindi pandit, pitches in with suggestions,” she adds.
A huge fan of Asha Bhosle, Nithyashree likes to dabble in all the genres. “In fact, during auditions, I sang Roz roz daali daali, and a ghazal during one of the performances. I was fortunate to even meet her when she came as a guest for Super Singer,” she adds.
Nithyashree has been pursuing Carnatic music for many years now and owes her success largely to her gurus — Lakshmi Raman, Padmavathy Ananthagopalan and PS Venkataraman—for giving her a strong base in classical music.
Grounded and friendly, Nithyashree also credits her friends from the Indian Idol team who have been helping her with the language. “I have to thank all of them for all their support and guidance. I have never felt out of place or treated differently just because I don’t speak the language,” she adds. Nithyashree says that despite being in the most gruelling phase of her student life, she is grateful for all the support and encouragement she has been receiving from her school principal and teachers, who have been sending her school notes. “I will be given special classes to help me cope with the lessons I missed,” says the Commerce student. And, with regard to the contest, Nithyashree is there to take it as it comes. “I am gearing up for this weekend’s episode. The voting lines are open from this Sunday till the next--- for a whole week. I am eagerly waiting for the results,” she says.