The Stage 3 premiere: New formats and high quality singing rule the roost

The Stage 3 premiered on Colors Infinity on 7 October, followed by an episode the next day on 8 October and it’s safe to say; music lovers all over India are super excited! The show’s panel of judges comprises of Vishal Dadlani, Monica Dogra, Ehsaan Noorani and Devraj Sanyal, all respected in their professions. [caption id=“attachment_4137319” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The Stage 3 Poster.[/caption] The Stage 3 is once again hosted by Shibani Dandekar and her effortless candour adds sparkle (quite literally) to the show. This is the third season of the popular western music singing reality show, and the latest season sees various changes in format. Live Audience Voting has been introduced on The Stage for the first time, which will give viewers much more power and a say in who they wish to see on their television screens as the show progresses, along with being given the tall order of deciding who takes home the coveted title. Another change in format that has been added to the list is the introduction of the ‘Go For Gold’ button in which certain contestants are picked from the audition rounds to go straight into the Top 12, skipping the ‘Showdown’ stage where the rest of the shortlisted artists would have to compete against each other in order to make it to the final 12. Season three is also the first time that duos, trios and groups were allowed to audition for the show, as opposed to the solo artists that were seen in the previous seasons. Two contestants were awarded the ‘Go For Gold’ during the auditions of The Stage 3 in the first two episodes. Zoe and Nisa both stunned the judges with their performances, Zoe with her pitch-perfect vocals and performance, and Nisha with her voice control and story-telling through song.

Golden girl, Zoe has made to the Top 12 with that performance at #TheStage3Auditions!@RenaultIndia #TheStage3 @JabongIndia @motorolaindia pic.twitter.com/whGWsEDvRW

— Colors Infinity (@colors_infinity) October 11, 2017

Nisa Shetty from New Delhi is the second lucky one who's made it to the Top 12 of #TheStage3!@RenaultIndia @JabongIndia @MotorolaIndia pic.twitter.com/LlVxzeqjgL

— Colors Infinity (@colors_infinity) October 12, 2017

Some other acts that stood out and left the judges speechless were The Rhythm Divine, a group of four, comprising of one teacher and three of his students. The band originated from Jalandhar and Dogra and Dadlani were left feeling extremely proud that a show that started out with a modest beginning and humble expectations now has such a wide reach that it is attracting artistes from the remotest parts of our country. Needless to say, the band made it through receiving four green lights from the judges, and we can expect a spectacular performance from them at the show down.

A few of the beautiful performances we heard at #TheStage3Auditions!@RenaultIndia presents #TheStage3 will be back this weekend! pic.twitter.com/htXAZx4Zrm

— Colors Infinity (@colors_infinity) October 11, 2017

Another contestant that the judges and Dandekar really appreciated was the “failing stand-up comedian” Akshay. Singing ‘Sunday Morning’ by Maroon 5 while strumming on his guitar, the artist managed to win over everyone’s heart. Niladri from Delhi, was another artist that gained favour with the judges with his voice control and confidence (he chose to sing ‘Roxanne’ by The Police, a brave move in itself). In a surprise of sorts, Shaurya sang ‘Creep’ by Radiohead, and everyone was left shocked at the bass quality of the 19-year-old’s voice and the low notes that he managed to hit. Shaurya had only been singing western music for a year or so, and also made it through to the Showdown. There were plenty rejections as well, with a professional singer called Sanjeeta who had trained at the Berkeley School of Music not making it past the audition stage. The Stage 3 airs on Colors Infinity every Saturday and Sunday at 8pm and is all set to give us some magical and musical months.