Winning voices from Dubai

Indians shine at a music contest held in UAE

Similar to Amercian Idol, the Camp Ka Champis the UAE’s largest and only singing contest for the labour community.

The show hits its ninth edition this year. The contest has grown multi-fold since its inception in 2007 – from just three participating companies to 24.

Over 4,000 contestants, comprising labourers working in the UAE, were part of this year’s competition. Over the past three months, the pool was whittled down to the 48 semi-finalists.

The semi-finals round had contestants split into teams of two, then down to four teams for the final. The finalists had to perform Bollywood songs after listening to a short tune, and sing about a random object.

In the final round, they had to identify Bollywood stars and sing as many of their songs as possible in a minute.

After stiff competition, an Indian-Pakistani duo and an Indian solo singer emerged winners.

Deepak Sharma, 25, from Rajasthan and Tayyab Tahir, 24, from Lahore won the Camp Ka Champ 2015.

They won 35,000 Dirhams ($9,530) worth gold and return flight tickets to home countries.

Sharma works as a restaurant supervisor and Tahir, a company supervisor in the same company. Initially Deepak was against the idea of participating in the contest but they later went for the auditions, he said.

“We are both bathroom singers without any proper training. But, we love music and that is what spurred our bond,” Tahir said. Meanwhile, another Indian, Mustakkim Shaikh, won the title ‘Singer of the Season.’

The 26-year-old technician won a cash prize of 35,000 Dirhams ($9,530).