Whether living abroad or in India, Goan singers have a different sense of pride when it comes to singing in the mother tongue. But wouldn't it be a listening pleasure to sing instant global hits with Konkani words? In the digital age, one is just a click away from listening to a song in a language that we don't understand, yet the catchy tune attracts music lovers to the song. The song itself then encourages the listener to know more about the language and what the lyrics mean.
One immediately steps on the dance floor when hits like Spanish songs, Michel Teló's 'Ai Se Eu Te Pego', or Los Del Rio's 'Macarena' starts playing. And who can forget, PSY's viral hit 'Gangham Style' and the recent craze of BTS with songs in Korean. Now imagine these same songs in Konkani.
Singing in Konkani has a different feeling to it, a feeling of belonging and unity for Goans. When singers sing in Konkani, every Goan connects to the song. Singing in Konkani gives me a sense of pride and honour but before the song is ready, one has to start working on its all meaningful lyrics.
The competition, organised by Uzoorba Technologies LLP, Chorao, as a project under its IT-enabled social-impact work, gives participants the opportunity to write lyrics to global hits in different languages. Participants can choose any global hits from the organizers’ especially curated playlists on YouTube and Spotify comprising over 500 songs across 45 languages. The contest is aimed at promoting excellence in Konkani lyrics writing.
A resident of Chorao, Vincent Paul Toscano, managing partner of Uzoorba, explains the aim of the contest, “We started working on this competition with a different concept in April this year. There are many singing competitions in Konkani but there is not much variety. I am not taking anything away from the noted singers and musicians but the portfolio of songs that can be performed is limited. Through this competition, there will be more variety with Konkani lyrics. These are songs that are already well known and it will add more challenges to the already high level of musical talent we have in Konkani.”
The entries for the Konkani lyrics have to be submitted by August 31, after participants register their intended songs latest by August 20. Each entry will be evaluated against nine parameters totalling 1000 points. These include original lyrics, translation completeness, lyrical suitability, Konkani metering, Konkani usage, target Top20 from the chosen Top20 Global Hits playlist, lyrics demo video, judges’ Golden Buzzer and people’s favourite through online public voting. The winners have a chance to win exciting cash and other prizes totalling over Rs 1 Lakh for the Top 6 entries.
“The theme of the contest is ‘Write catchy Konkani Lyrics for your favourite Global Hits!’. We began accepting entries in June and so far we have received 118 entries. Through the entries, we realised that the participants are from different parts of Goa and even the UK. The participants include people from students to senior citizens and not just singers and musicians but also students, teachers, housewives, doctors, businessmen, lawyers, IT professionals and even four priests. Nearly 50 percent of the entries are based on English songs, followed by Spanish and Hindi, however, we have also received entries for songs in Greek and Uzbek. Presently, there are songs being translated into Konkani from 17 source languages including Arabic, Assamese, English, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Marathi, Nepali, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Uzbek. The songs are also from different music genres like Pop, Country, Rock, EDM, Reggae, Reggaeton, Bollywood, etc,” says Vincent, who adds that currently Merces and Vasco are leading with 19 entries each.
One of the key aspects that participants should follow is the mood of the song. If the song is a happy song, the lyrics should reflect the same. The Konkani lyrics are not expected to be literal line-for-line translations but should ideally capture the overall essence and spirit of the original song while unique/innovative twists and spins are also welcome. Free online tools like Google Translate, Konkanverter.com, ChatGPT etc. have been suggested to the participants to enable their work of crafting catchy Konkani Lyrics. Entries can be submitted in either the Devnagari or the Romi Konkani scripts. Also, the copyrights of all submitted Konkani lyrics will remain with the participant lyricists and their teams. A participant may be involved in a maximum of 5 Konkani Lyrics entries.
“The contest takes out the challenges of melody and music production by using existing global hits so that the participants can focus solely on writing captivating Konkani lyrics for these. Konkani is a rich language and the dialects change from Pernem to Canacona and we would love to see different dialects in a single song. Writing lyrics is laborious as you have to get the rhyme and metering right. Participants can create their own Konkani words and make innovations and also reuse keywords and punch-lines from the original songs,” elaborates Vincent. Children and Persons with Disabilities will get free registration on any song till August 20 besides special prizes courtesy the uniRISE Research Foundation.
The judging panel of 3-5 members will comprise of Konkani singers, linguistic experts, song-writing/music experts besides an organizer’s representative. However, the competition will be publicly scrutinised and the shortlisted songs will be shared on social media on Instagram and Facebook. “Each song will be provided a unique ID number and will be anonymously judged. The scoring will be done according to the set parameters and viewers will be able to see
the songs,” says Vincent. In the future, the organisers hope to follow up this contest with a singing competition.