Suresh Wadkar at a cultural event

The audience could barely contain their excitement. And why not! It is not everyday that Dilliwalas get to see legendary singing personalities like Suresh Wadkar in their midst.
The ‘Singing Guru’ as he is popularly called, was here as a chief guest in the final round of a reality show organized by Amrapalli Kalapeeth, a music school based in Sector-8, Dwarka. The reality show was held at Dr Radhakrishnan Auditorium, Delhi Cantt.Also present were Bhavdeep Jaipurwala, a well known music composer.
Wadkar got a standing ovation from contestants, judges and the audience. Wadkar sang two songs even as the audience just could not have enough of him. The contestants too left no stone unturned to showcase their best performance for their favourite idol, who was recently selected for the National award for Best Singer for 2011.
Speaking to TOI on the rising popularity of reality shows, Wadkar who has been a judge at major reality music contests said that reality shows do give an exposure to the singer and that is the reason they are becoming popular. It is very easy to get publicity. However, children should learn music for the sake of learning and not just to win a contest. He said, “These days everyone wants a shortcut to success, but only those in the industry survive who have learned proper classical music. Great singers like Mukeshji, Lataji, Rafi have spent a lifetime practicing music. The culture is changing and even in reality shows children prefer to sing pop songs.”