Passion 2021 Rules and Regulations

Performance Categories

Passion 2021 will be conducted for two performance categories:

• Vocal
  This includes Hindustani Classical Vocal Khayal performance. Semi-classical, thumri, natya-sangeet, folk music, ghazal, light music, tappa, etc. are not included. Karnatak Classical vocal is also not included at this stage. Any form of Khayal Gayaki is included - Vilambit Khayal, Bandish, Tarana. Drupad will be accepted.

• Swar Vadya (Melody Instrumental)
  Any type of Melody instrument such as Harmonium, Sitar, Sarod, Sarangi, Violine, Flute, Classical Guitar, Veena, etc. are included. At this stage, percussion instruments like Tabla, Pakhawaj are not included.

See the section on the rules around Group-wise requirements of the performance.

Eligibility

The competition is being conducted for two performance categories and three age groups as indicated below.

Competition Rounds

The competition will take place in the following two rounds.

• Preliminary Round will involve screening of videos from participants received on Google Drive, via the link sent by Suranjan.

• Final Round of selected participants will be held on Suranjan’s Facebook Live platform.

Prizes

Here are the prizes and rewards to be won during the Passion 2021 competition for both Vocal and Instrumental categories.

• The participants standing first in each Group shall be given prizes as follows:

  • Group I: Rs.5,000
  • Group II: Rs. 10,000
  • Group III: Rs. 15,000

• Participants standing second and third will be awarded certificates and will be given an opportunity to perform on Suranjan's platform.

• All other participants will receive a participation certificate.

Registration

Below are the guidelines for registering for the competition.

• Last date for Registration is 10th August 2021. Note that no registrations will be accepted after this date.

• Register online here by providing your details

• Registration Fee is Rs 300 for participants from India and USD 5 for participants from outside of India. It needs to be paid online while registering using one of the many options available including UPI, Net Banking, etc.

• Specify your Date of Birth correctly. The appropriate Group will be auto-selected. Incorrect Date of Birth will result into rejection of the entry. See the Eligibility section above for more details.

• Please upload your Age Proof while registering. Any Government Issued document that has the name and Date of Birth is acceptable. This includes Passport, Aadhar, PAN, Birth Certificate, SSC/HSC Certificate, School or College Leaving Certificate etc.

• Your mobile number and email ID are very important. All communication will be sent via these channels via WhatsApp.

• Young children can provide the mobile phone numbers of their parents.

• Registration Fee is non-refundable

• Registration will be valid only if Suranjan can verify the Date of Birth via the proof uploaded during registration. Any discrepancy found in Date of Birth will result into cancellation of your entry.

Performance Guidelines - Vocal

The following is a set of performance guidelines to be kept in mind by the participants performing in Classical Vocal category.

• Acceptable Performance: The performance must be purely of Hindustani Classical Music. Any form of Khayal like Bandish, Vilambit Khayal, Tarana are are accepted. Only for Group III, Vilambit Khayal is mandatory. For other groups, there is no restriction. Drupad performance is also accepted.

• Unacceptable Performance: Any form of vocal performance apart from pure khayal and Drupad are not accepted. Natyasangeet/ Film Music/ Semi-classical Music is strictly not permitted. Karnatak Classical is also not included.

• Tanpura and Tabla are a must. Participants can use an electronic Tabla/Tanpura machine. Apps facilitating the use of a Tabla and Tanpura such as iTablaPro are also permitted. You can use accompanists from outside provided your local Covid 19 norms allow you to do so.

• Harmonium accompaniment is allowed only for Group I. Harmonium Accompaniment is not allowed for Group II and Group III. Please make a note of this.

• Even for first group, while harmonium is allowed as an accompaniment, the participant should not play harmonium herself/himself and perform.

• Participants tuning and using a manual Tanpura could be given grace marks, according to the decision made by the judges.

• Performance specifications:

  • Group I: Any form of khayal - Bandish, Tarana, etc.
  • Group II: Any form of khayal - Bandish, Tarana, etc.
  • Group III: Vilambit Khayal is compulsory, followed by any khayal. This is applicable to Vocal and Instrumental categories.

  Apart from the compulsion of Vilambit khayal for Group III, there are no restrictions as such. We encourage you to perform whatever has been taught to you by your Guru and what you are most comfortable with. It has to be pure classical khayaal and must be within the stipulated time.

  Time Limit:

  • Group I: Maximum 6 minutes
  • Group II: Maximum 10 minutes
  • Group III: Maximum 15 minutes

  You can perform the same Raag for Round I and Round II. There is no special consideration, marks for different Raag for the two rounds.

Performance Guidelines - Instrumental

The following is a set of performance guidelines to be kept in mind by the participants performing in the Swar Instruments category.

• Acceptable Performance: This year we are accepting only Melody Instruments such as Harmonium, Sitar, Santoor, Sarod, Violine, Sarangi, Flute etc. The performance must be purely of Khayal Hindustani Classical Music.

• Unacceptable Performance: Percussion instruments such as Tabla, Pakhawaj are not included at the moment. Natyasangeet/ Film Music/ Semi-classical Music is strictly not permitted. Karnatak Classical is also not included.

• Tanpura and Tabla are a must. Participants can use an electronic Tabla/Tanpura machine. Apps facilitating the use of a Tabla and Tanpura such as iTablaPro, iLehra Pro etc. are also permitted. You can use accompanists from outside provided your local Covid 19 norms allow you to do so.

• Vilambit Khayal / Gat is compulsory, followed by any khayal.

• Apart from the compulsion of Vilambit khayal / Gat for Instrumental Group III, there are no restrictions as such. We encourage you to perform whatever has been taught to you by your Guru and what you are most comfortable with. It has to be pure classical khayaal and must be within the stipulated time.

• Time Limit: Maximum 15 minutes

• Same guidelines are applicable for both rounds.

• You can perform the same Raag for Round I and Round II. There is no special consideration, marks for different Raag for the two rounds.

Facebook Live Guidelines

The Final Round will be held via Facebook Live, on Suranjan's Facebook page, on 4th and 5th September 2021. Exact schedule has been communicated to finalists.

Suranjan volunteers will be in touch with you to explain the entire process of Facebook Live to be followed for the final round.

• The preferred way to have Facebook live session for the finals is to use a Laptop with broadband connection. Else, you can use mobile phone connected to a broadband internet connection. If you do not have broadband wifi, then at least use 4G Mobile connection.

• Good connectivity for Facebook live is essential for an effective performance.

• When you go live using Wifi connection, ensure that you put your mobile phone on Airplane mode.

• If you are using mobile phone's internet, at least put the phone in Do No Disturb mode so that you don't get phone calls when you are live.

• Suranjan volunteers will perform a trial run of Facebook Live with you using our trial Facebook page.

• You need to share the Facebook ID (Email used for login to Facebook) with us, so that we can provide you access to go live on our Page. Our volunteers will explain the process

• While going live using a Mobile phone camera, be careful about Horizontal vs Vertical orientation. Facebook App on some phones does not support horizontal video. In such cases, if you hold the phone horizontal, the video will look tilted by 90 degree on Facebook. You must avoid this. Check this out during trials.

• While going live, ensure that background arrangement should be proper, be seated on a carpet or "satranji" with some presentable background. Avoid going live while sitting on bed for example.

• Please give a thought to the dress code (you and accompanists) so that it is in line with the art you are performing. Casual wear like T-shirts may be avoided.

• You should ensure appropriate light is available on your face. Avoid situation where light is coming from your back. That results into the face not being visible during the live session.

• Have a proper balance of Tanpura, Tabla and Vocals. Suranjan volunteers will help you set this up during the trial run. Do not change those settings during the final round performance.

• Before starting your performance, declare your name, group, the Raag that you are going to perform and names of accompanists if you have any. No further details are required.

• When you start your live session, Facebook asks you to provide a title and description for the video. Use the following convention: (First Name) (LastName) from (Group name) performing (Raag Name) Passion2021. E.g. Sachin Shinde from Group II performing Raag Yaman Passion2021

• When you go live, start immediately. There is no need to check with audience if they can listen to you. Facebook has a lag of 20-30 secs and this results into loss of time. If the trial has happened successfully, you should have no problems.

• When you are done, end the live video immediately. You should "NOT" delete the video after live session ends.

• Please stick to the timeline given. Do not exceed the time given to you as per your group.

• In case there are technical challenges during your performance, Judges may ask you to perform again once the issues are resolved.

• You may want to record your live performance from one phone while you are Live on Facebook from another. This is optional. Not mandatory. The backup recording may be used in extreme case where the technical issue does not get resolved. The standby recording must be of the same performance that was attempted live. This is not like Round I, where you can record it at your convenient time. This is a backup option. Please speak to our volunteers if this is not clear.

• While you are Live, our volunteers should be in a position to reach out to your friends/family in the room during the performance in case we have any feedback. Please share their contact info with volunteers. This number should be different than the phone on which you will go live.

Judgement and Evaluation

Passion 2021 will be judged by a panel of eminent judges.
The Panel of Judges will be announced soon.

• The decision of the judges will be final and will not be subject to change once declared.

• The participants will be evaluated on a predefined list of criteria, including Sur, Taal, Voice Quality and many others as decided by Suranjan's judges.

Technical Requirements

To ensure the smooth execution of the competition, certain technical requirements are key. Hence, a list of technical prerequisites required from the students.

• A good Internet connection.

• Video can be recorded on a mobile phone.

• The Google Drive mobile app must be installed on the phone.

• A Facebook account of the eligible participant or parent, with the ability to do Facebook Live.

Contact Us

Here are the phone numbers on which you can reach out to us with regards to any query.

• Suranjan Trust - 9321495279

• Vimoh Vaishampayan - 9969518559