Prince Dance Group, Berhampur wins Talent show

Yes. Berhampur’s got talent. To the utter disbelief of the people across the country, for the people of Orissa in general and the people of the Silk city in particular, the children of labour class people of Ambapua near Berhampur city have won the greatest reality show ‘India’s Got Talent’ telecast in Colors Channel.
The slum children, most of them belonging to the labourers families and some working as a daily labourers, have proved the world that even slum children could, with conviction and hard work, achieve what the rich aspires. From a little known Danda Naacha troupe, the children have excelled to perform the Dasaavatara with perfection before the well acclaimed judges, audience and millions of people across the country viewing the show live through the night of grand finale of the reality show on August 22.
Till the semi-final round of the reality show even the people of Berhampur city were not aware of such a group that could bring laurels for the city and the State. But, after the semi final round when these children belonging to the Prince Dance Group trained by Krishna Mohan Reddy had reached the final stage, good wishes started pouring in and campaigning to garner support through mobile SMS started and people from all quarters had began to cooperate. Starting from the district administration to the Chief Minister, local institutions to corporate houses, school and college students, local unions and organisations, even the physically challenged across the city had started campaigning to bag votes for Prince Dance Group through SMS. Large hoardings had been displayed, large screen displays were arranged for public view and big screen displays were arranged in several locations including Ambapua Harijan Street in the Berhampur city on the night of the grand finale of the reality show for the residents to watch the show live.
Everyone was waiting for the moment of declaration. As time passed after the performances of 11 dance groups in the reality show, the heart and breath of the people of the Silk city and the families of these children taking part in the show increased and all waited for the moment of glory and passed some anxious moments. But, prior to the declaration of the results, the views of the judges were unexpected, particularly for the audience, as the judges openly supported and wished for the success of these slum children. Oscar winner Sekhar Kapoor of the Slum Dog Millionaire fame had then stated: ‘I have never seen such a performance till date. Song, dance, choreography, and coordination everything was excellent. I don’t find proper words to express. I don’t understand who trained you people, where you had practised…" Kiran Kher, another judge of the show, also openly wished for the Prince Dance Group, appealing the people to vote for this group through SMS. Sonali Bindre was also excited enough to wish for this group stating their performance as ‘excellent’.
The announcers of the show then declared the three groups including the Prince Dance Group that remained in the final stage. The people of Berhampur city, particularly the mothers of the children who were taking part in the show, were breathless and eagerly waiting for the moment as they had wished through these days by lighting the Akhand Deep at the Kali temple of the village. They even did not have dinner, stated Sarada, mother of Munna Das, adding "we never thought that our children would one day reach at such a stage to make Orissa and Berhampur proud in the country". When Rani Mukherjee declared ‘And the winner is Prince Dance Group’, everyone in Berhampur city and the people of Ambapua particularly started celebrating. The joy of mothers of these children was unexplainable as they had also started to dance like the little ones.
Local MP Siddhant Mohapatra who was present at the show said that these children were not slum dogs but ‘princes of slums’. Even Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik congratulated these children over phone in the night of the grand finale of the reality show on August 22.
Krishna, the master of Prince Dance Group, while speaking to The Pioneer over phone from Mumbai, said he was feeling great as he could bring laurels for the city and the children of labourers could do something for the State. They thank all the people of the State as the people cutting across age, caste, religion and region had voted in favour their dance group. They would continue to dance and would try to place Berhampur City (Silk City) in the world map by performing at international events, added Krishna.