Sponsorship

The Grand Finale

The show was opened with a welcome address from Chaya Pamula, the founder of SOFKIN, who talked about the organization, judges, and mentors that gave their time to this event.

The competition was extremely well-received with enthusiastic feedback, and the outstanding performances by the contestants brought great energy and passion to the event. The finals featured not only the singing of the participants, but amazing dance performances by our very own SOFKIN children.

“We were not only giving the participants a platform to compete with others, but we also gave an opportunity for the participants to inspire the underprivileged children in SOFKIN to realize that nothing is impossible and that they themselves have a tremendous amount of possibilities in life. The participants were able to show their compassion by spreading the good work that SOFKIN does as well as encouraging others to donate to make a difference in the lives of these underprivileged children”, Chaya said at the conclusion of the event.

Participants were excited by the experience as well. Jashvita Veeramalla called Songfest “a significant learning experience” for them, and winner Suresh Babu Ramana Rao said he and his son (who also competed) were happy to explain SOFKIN and expand awareness about the organization to others throughout the competition.

Our judges had many wonderful things to say about our performers. Surekha Moorthy said, “The children learned so many songs and annamacharya keerthanas for the audience to hear them sing and make us happy.” She went on to say, “Whether they won or not all these children put forward their full efforts for this competition. I am so grateful for being given this opportunity by SOFKIN and I give them my deepest gratitude”

“I was so happy to see such young children singing and participating in this event,” commented K.M. Radhakrishnan. “I feel very proud of this. Thank you for giving me the honor to be a judge in this event.”

K. Ramacharya added, “After hearing the children sing so beautifully and melodically, I give my deepest gratitude to their parents and mentors. I was very happy hearing that the money from this competition would be donated towards the children in need in India, because you are helping so many people in a time of need. “

A huge congratulations goes out to the winners and runner-ups of our competition:

These 12 contestants truly stood out and performed beautifully all the way through the show!

GENEROUSLY GIVING MORE THAN JUST SONG

Over 90 dedicated contestants participated in Songfest this year. Entrants received personalized feedback and guidance from assigned mentors as they advanced in the competition. Along with their entries, participants had to build their individual donation pages for the event to stay in the competition. It was through these donation pages that we exceeded our goal and established the Humanitarian Award.

Samanvitha Chintalapati was awarded the Humanitarian Award for raising the most funds. Coming in a very close second was Tanvi Birru, who did an amazing job with spreading the word about SOFKIN. Throughout the competition, Tanvi would take time to tell others about the mission of SOFKIN, and why it was so meaningful to be a part of Songfest. She had over 28 donors contribute to her fundraising page! Samanvitha’s and Tanvi’s dedication to the SOFKIN cause is one of the reasons we exceeded our goal.

With this competition, we have been able to raise enough money to help our organization continue to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical and education facilities, and a nurturing home for SOFKIN children. This year, funds raised were utilized for COVID relief efforts as well. The money donated is going towards helping those suffering from the pandemic in India.

THANKS TO ALL THAT MADE IT HAPPEN

Songfest would not have been possible without the support of our Sponsors, Mentors, and Judges.

Thank you to our kind and generous sponsors:

A special thank you goes to Srinivas Ganagoni from TV Asia Telugu, who provided assistance, guidance, and support during our telecast.

According to Prasad Tenjerla, SOFKIN Songfest was a “rewarding experience” to be a part of.

Thank you to all of our supporting organizations, as we wouldn’t have received the overwhelming number of registrations we did without their participation and generous help:

We want to give our special thanks to all mentors that worked closely with participants, guiding them throughout the competition: Abhiram Yerramilli, Prasad Simhadri, Prudhvi Chandra, Sai Charan, Damini Bhatlach, and Chaitra. And we would like to commemorate all the judges and guest advisors that added to the excitement of Songfest: Sasikala Swamy, Surekha Murthy, R.P. Patnaik, K.M. Radha Krishnan, and K. Ramachary.

Our SOFKIN team India, Youth Group, and PamTen volunteers did a great job of keeping everything organized and running smoothly. A cross-cultural group of volunteers were led by high school student Kirthi Chirurpati, and included Arya Shukla, Claudine Montakhab, Mahima Kakani, Ishya Cherukupalli and Jyothi Vivekananda. They collaborated closely with SOFKIN alumni and PamTen employee volunteers: Joanne Tartaglino from PamTen New Jersey, Kalpana Challa and SaiDeepthi Bitra from PamTen India, and SOFKIN alumni Jagdish Goud and Nikhil Beesa.

This virtual event required months of planning and organization, and our team members and supporters worked hard to produce a show worth watching. You can always catch the replay onTV ASIA YouTube Channel.

SOFKIN Songfest will be memorable for all that were involved and watched for many years to come!