Voice Choice

The opening notes are proof enough of a singer’s calibre. You may argue,but not when it comes from winner of many awards playback singer Alka Yagnik.

She is in town to select participants for Li’l Champs the musical talent show on Zee TV. “Instead of singing just any composition offered to me,I prefer this role of listening and choosing the sweetest voice,” said the dimple-cheeked singer with a smile.

Alka,who has innumerable chartbusters to her credit including the unforgettable Ek do Teen and the mellifluous track from Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna,is a stickler for perfection to the extent that she never pushed her 18-year-ol daughter into singing because: “She doesn’t have the aptitude.”

She advised parents of the talented children to be mild and not drive the little ones up the wall.

Is it right to involve them into such competition at such a tender age?

“Of course! This is the time when their voice is so malleable and can be honed to perfection. The age at which youngsters take part in shows like Indian Idol they are past the stage of grooming,” says the singer who recorded her first song — Mere Angne Mein Tumhara Kya Kaam Hai for Laawaris — when she was only 14 years old.

As many as 200 children from as far as Lakhimpur-Kheri and Aligarh were shortlisted on Thursday and will be finally auditioned by Alka on Friday.