MUMBAI: Music channel Etc claims to have stolen a march over the Filmfare Awards. The broadcaster issued a release stating that when telecast at the same time its music awards has got a 40 per cent share while the Filmfare Awards got a mere six per cent share in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh..
The Tam data is for 15+; Sec: ABC; C&S Homes 15min+; Time Band: 20.59 TO 01.30 on 21 February. ETC CEO Jagjit Singh Kohli added, "Its extremely heartening to know that in our markets the first Punjabi Music Awards has been liked by the viewers with an overwhelming majority as compared to the Filmfare Awards, which is a very old institution and extremely popular too. This has encouraged us to do even better in the years to come.The ratings have ratified the faith put by our sponsors and viewers in the power of Punjabi Music."
The ETC Punjabi music awards took place for the first time. The release adds that the high point of the seven hour long ceremony was the rousing ovation given by the whos who of Punjabi Music to the three legends of Punjabi Music - Kuldeep Manak, Gurmeet Bawa and Surinder Kaur. They were awarded the Lifetime Achievement Awards along with a farewell to Surjit Bindrakhia who was given a special Jury award for his contribution to Punjabi music
The night saw live performances from the likes of Jazzy B, Kamaljit Neeru, Sukhshinder Shinda, Gursewak Mann, Harbhajan Mann, Pammi Bai, Shin and Jassi Sidhu. Cricket commentator, Navjot Singh Sidhu gave the crowd more Sidhuisms.
Gurdas Mann bagged the award for Best Lyrics and Best male Vocalist ( Pop) for his album Punjeeri which also went on to bag the awards for Best Music Director and Best Video. Barkat Sidhu was declared the Best Sufi singer (Male) while Pakistani singer Abida Parveen bagged the award for best female Sufi singer. Lakhwinder Lucky got the best male debut award while Rani Randeep got the best female debut as well as the best female Pop vocalist award. The best comedian award went to Bhagwant Mann. Overall there were 25 categories.
The jury for the awards included Bollywood music director Uttam Singh, Priti Sapru, Ghazal Maestro Bhupinder and playback singer Mahender Kapoor. The awards was sponsored by Close Up, Airtel, General Motors (Optra), Cavin Care (Nyle), Western Union, LML Freedom, Play Win, Coca Cola, Kissan Annapurna, Hindustan Times, Ajit, The Maya (Jalandhar). The event was managed by Showcraft and was televised live on both ETC Punjabi and Alpha Punjabi.
