ZEE’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa to continue in new avatar

ZEE TV’s runaway reality TV success Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, will continue in a new avatar after the current run ends in March.

The overwhelming response to the Challenge 2005 contest has paved way for a new series of the show. As part of the new format, previous contestants who were voted out from the show will be given another chance by the channel.

Ashish Kaul, Senior Vice-President, ZEE Network, said, ���We have received an amazing and overwhelming response to recall contestants who have been voted out by public voting system. We have decided to give another chance to ousted contestants, we owe this to our viewers who have made ��Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005�۪ the best programme in its genre by defeating all so called idols.�۝

���We are in the process of fine-tuning details and will make an in-show announcement in the next few days,�۝ Kaul further said. The promos will break on air by 9th or 10th February.

The immense popularity of the show can be gauged from the fact that it helped ZEE TV reach the No. 2 slot in the general entertainment channel (GEC) rating. In the last four-week period (between January 10, 2006 and January 27, 2006) ��Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005�۪ scored a gross TRP of 3.53, which is higher than that of Sony�۪s ��Indian Idol�۪ at a gross TRP of 3.31.

Said Kaul, ���The reason for sustained growth and popularity is due to the fact that ��Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005�۪ has its objective very clear and defined in terms of offering a platform to real, hardcore, top of the line playback voices and not creating marketing chipmunks. It is only because of this objective that ��Sa Re Ga Ma Pa�۪ as a platform and ��Challenge 2005�۪ as a series have given some of the best singers to the film and entertainment industry that it has today. ��Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005�۪ is and will always remain a platform for nothing but the best playback singers.�۝