Durga Puja pandals to host auditions for a reality show

 Durga Puja pandals will turn into a stage to audition for the Indian Idol Junior television show as the Indian Idol Academy is tying up with Durga Puja committees in Kolkata. On all four days of the Durga Puja, children would be able to give digital auditions in 100 select puja pandals across the city.

"The puja committees will then nominate five talents from these audition sessions. A panel of around 20 celebrity judges will visit each pandal and select the best 50 singers who will get the tickets for this year's Indian Idol Junior auditions," Indian Idol Academy co-founder Sourabh J Sarkar told reporters here today. He said this would give everyone the opportunity to take part in the auditions as they expect around 50,000 children to audition at the pandals. Besides appearing for the main auditions, individual winners and their puja committees would also be awarded cash prizes totalling Rs 5 lakh.