Arjun Subramaniam, grade 7, and Andrea Wang ’10 both made it to the final rounds in two singing contests similar to American Idol, winning awards for their talent.
Subramaniam was awarded the Star Kid trophy, which recognizes rising talent, by Carnatic Music Idol USA.
Carnatic Music Idol is a popular TV program in India that is coming to the United States for the first time. Similar to American Idol, Carnatic Music Idol recruits talent from across the country, and came to the Bay Area as part of its first U.S. auditions process. Subramaniam was one of 20 competing in the “juniors” category in the show’s finals.
Subramaniam sings with Harmonics at Harker, a by-audition show choir for students in grades 7-8.
On ETTV Top Idol 2011, a Chinese spin-off of American Idol, Wang was chosen as the top performer and made it to the top 10. Going into the semifinals, Wang had the highest score.
Like American Idol, ETTV Top Idol is an annual competition that launches a countrywide search to discover the “potential pop stars of tomorrow.” This year, ETTV Top Idol auditions were held in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. Wang auditioned at a friend’s suggestion and has had much success in the competition. It is easy to see why from this video of Wang singing Bonnie Raitt’s “Have a Heart.”
The final round of the competition took place in Los Angeles in mid-September but results are not available.
