Orissa celebrates ‘India’s Got Talent’ contest victory

BHUBANESWAR - People burst crackers, visited temples for thanksgiving and distributed sweets across Orissa Sunday after a state-based the Prince Dance group won TV reality show “India’s Got Talent” at the grand finale in Mumbai.

People glued to the televisions, sent thousands SMSes in favour of the group when the grand finale of the show began Saturday on television channel Colors.

After the results were declared, people in many parts of the state came out on the streets and raised slogans, hailing the victory. Also, they were seen dancing and distributing sweets Sunday. Many went to the temples to thank the god for answering their prayers for victory.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who watched the programme at his home was one of the first few who congratulated the dance team for bringing success to the state, an official told IANS.

The Prince Dance group from Berhampur town, nearly 180 km from here, was selected out of 45,000 competitors to perform in the grand finale round of the show.

The group, comprising 26 artistes, all below 22 years of age, and none of them a professional dancer held the audience - and more importantly, the judges - spellbound with their act, which was based on episodes from the Mahabharata.

While some of the men were painted in silver, one of them essayed the role of Hindu god Lord Krishna.

Led by their 26-year-old dance teacher Krishna Mohan Reddy, who also never had any formal training in dance, the group got the reward of a staggering Rs.50 lakh (Rs.5 million) in cash and a swish, newly-launched Maruti Suzuki Ritz car.

“We are proud of the team. They have created history,” noted sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik told IANS.

Relatives, friends, corporate houses, social activists and Pattnaik were among those who had launched campaigns in the past few days and appealed to people to vote for the group.

Hours before the final result, RSB Group, India’s leading engineering and automotive component production company, said it will reward Rs.10 lakh to the dance group.

The reward money would be presented by the chief minister after the return of the dance group to the home state, the company said in a release.