Indian Idol Junior: Bangalore Girl Anjana Crowned Winner in Singing Reality Show

Bangalore-based Anjana Padmanabhan was crowned the winner of the first season of "Indian Idol Junior" at a grand finale in Mumbai on Sunday (1 September).

The 10-year-old girl, who competed with three other finalists - Nirvesh Sudhanshubhai Dave, Debanjana Karmakar and Anmol Jaswal, emerged as winner of the singing reality show based on audience voting.

The talented singer received her trophy from Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan. She also bagged a cash prize of ₹25 lakh from Sony Entertainment Television, a Nissan Micra car and cheques of ₹5 lakh and ₹2 lakh from Kotak Mahindra and Horlicks, respectively.

Expressing happiness over her victory, an elated Anjana said in a statement, "Although we were competing against each other, we were like a family filled with unique characters and had our moments of joy and sorrow. I am thrilled."

Anjana studies in Delhi Public School Bangalore South. The school is reveling in glory over her victory in the singing contest. A statement from the school website said, "The journey that spanned months saw her [Anjana] evolve into the nightingale that today is the apple of every music director. DPS Bangalore South is proud of their little daughter in having reached the pinnacle of success and would like to wish her the very best in life."

The grand finale of "Indian Idol Junior" was a star-studded affair with prominent celebrities from Bollywood cinema attending the event. Priyanka Chopra and Ram Charan Teja, who is making his Hindi debut with "Zanjeer", made an appearance on the show to promote their film, which is set to get released on 6 September. Both the stars entered the show grooving to a song from "Zanjeer".

Shahid Kapur was also there to promote his upcoming film "Phata Poster Nikla Hero". He joined music composer Vishal, one of the judges of the show, to perform to their hit number "Dhan te nan" from blockbuster film "Kaminey". Another judge, singer Shreya Ghosal, crooned to "Sun raha hai na tu" from "Aashiqui 2" and "Itni si hansi" from "Barfi". She was joined by Vishal-Shekhar duo for the song "Ooh la la" from "Dirty Picture".

All four contenders paid tribute to Amitabh by crooning to some of his popular songs during the final show. While Anjana won the singing contest, Debanjana Karmakar from Kolkata was chosen as the first runner-up. Anmol Jaswal from Jammu and Nirvesh Sudhanshubhai Dave from Ahmedabad secured the second runners-up positions.