Sonu Nigam’s Stunning Concert Thrilled Chicagoans

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Sonu Nigam’s Stunning Concert Thrilled Chicagoans
Sonu Nigam – A Singer Par Excellence

Asian Media USA ©
Chicago IL : Sonu Nigam Live in Concert “Klose To My Heart” rocked Rosemont Theatre (Akoo Theatre), 5400 N. River road, Rosemont, IL On Friday – June 15, 2012. The magnificent Akoo Theatre in Rosemont was packed with a phenomenal number of people who attended this sold out Concert. Sonu Nigam, the heart-beat of Bollywood music and Cinema, who is an actor as well as a playback singer, mesmerize enthusiastic crowd for about 3.5 hour. Tickets for show range from $39, $49, $59, $79, $129, $209 (VIP) and $500 (VVIP). The National promoter of this tour is Balaji Entertainment and the Chicago show was organized by Abiha Javid Khan from Studio Elite and Amrish Mahajan from Sai Consulting

Among himself, Sonu Nigam Live in Concert “Klose To My Heart” had many skilled musicians, all look stylish and very remarkable. Sonu Nigam and his band of 24 musicians The orchestra included 9 violinists, 2 keyboard players, 1 drum player, 3 Dholak and or Tabla players, 2 Congo players, 2 Octapad players, 2 Guitarists, 1 saxophone player, 1 trumpet player and 1 flute player and was conducted by a maestro. Changing lights, large images on LED screens and a spectacular cast which brings more live impact on audiences. Studio Elite and Sai Consulting has done a fabulous job. The stage was decorated by Akoo Theatre staff along with directions from Sonu Nigam team was very impressive. There was state-of-the-art set up on the stage. Akoo Theatre never looked like this before.” The sound system was high quality and outstanding. Security did excellent job for general audience. Volunteers team had done outstanding job by doing overall management making the whole show seem most organized and well disciplined.

Chicago music lovers were treated to an evening of extraordinary music by the versatile singer, Sonu Nigam and his band of musicians who are currently on a 40-day world tour covering the Caribbean islands, Canada and the U.S. The concert tour, which began June 8, 2012 in Atlanta, GA, will take Sonu to 15 cities in the United State and Canada. Concert in Chicago June 15, 2012 was 4th show of his US tour and last show will be on July 16, 2012 at New York. Aims to give his audience a state-of-the-art show with a bigger orchestra, better lighting and sound while retaining the essence of his Bollywood style of music.

Sonu Nigam Live in Concert “Klose To My Heart” are currently on a world tour entitled, enthralled the audience at North Carolina, Trinidad, and Atlanta. All shows were sold out and the popularity of has reached such a high, that Sonu has decided to extend his stay in the USA till July 16. After his show in New York on June 9, Sonu will perform for the second time in July 2012.

The concert was stated as 8: 35 pm. After the warm up of the orchestra, a female singer came on stage and sang 2 songs. He was dressed in white suit with red boarders. The concert was appropriately named “Klose to my heart”, because Sonu belted out over 50 songs that are close to his heart. Perhaps Sonu is the only singer who can only sing in his own style but also sing songs of Mukesh, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, Manna Dey, R.D. Burman and even songs of Asha Bhosle and Lata ngeshkar with ease and flair. Born on July 30, 1973, success didn’t come easy to this powerhouse of musical talent from Haryana. Sonu used to accompany his father to sing at weddings and parties during his teenage years. But at the age of 19, Sonu came to Mumbai with a bagful of dreams in search of his destiny. He moved to Mumbai with his father to begin his Bollywood singing career at the age of 19. After getting his first break for the film, he has already reached the pinnacle of his career in short ten years.

In Mumbai, his playback dreams had to wait a while and Sonu had to do radio commercials, apart from recording songs of legendary singer Mohd. Rafi with the label Rafi ki Yaadein. That album made him reach a wider audience. Trained by classical singer Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan, he got a TV break to host a singing reality show Sa Re Ga Ma in 1995, which was a huge hit. Real fame brushed him when he was chosen to give the playback for Anu Malik’s composition ‘Sandeshe aate hain’ in the Hindi film Border.

And since then, Sonu has been in the lap of fame. Giving some outrageously hit albums like Mausam, Deewana, Classically Mild, apart from a number of popular Hindi and Kannada film songs, he ruled the playlists of the young and the old alike. His romantic songs, and some intense ones, became quite popular with the audience. Nigam has also sung in many languages including English, Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, Urdu, Oriya, Telugu, Punjabi, Tamil, Nepali, Malayalam and Marathi. Some of his hit songs worth mentioning are, ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham), ‘Kal ho na ho’ (Kal Ho Naa Ho), ‘Tanhayee’ (Dil Chahta Hai), ‘Mai Hoon Na’ (Mai Hoon Na), ‘Saathiya’ (Saathiya), ‘Satrangi Re’ (Dil Se), ‘Panchi Nadiyan Pawan’ (Refugee) in Hindi, and ‘Ninnindale Ninnindale’ (Milana), ‘Eenagali Mundhe Saagu’ (Mussanjemaatu) in Kannada. From his albums, ‘Mujhe Raat Din’, ‘Mein Hoon Deewana Tera’, ‘Kuchh Tum Socho’ and ‘Bijuria’ were huge hits. His brush with Bollywood didn’t stop with singing alone. Sonu tried his luck at acting too, but failed miserably.
He acted in Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani, Kash Aap Hamare Hote and Love in Nepal. His singing talent was duly recognized when he won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the song ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ from the Hindi film of the same name in 2004. He won two Filmfare awards for the title songs of Saathiya and Kal Ho Na Ho in 2003 and 2004, respectively.

Nigam is a major force in the music industry with too many awards to list. His work has been well recognized in India and the world over as he got three International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, four Screen Awards, three Zee Cine Awards, two Lions Gold Award, and three Annual Central European Bollywood Awards for his Hindi songs. He has two Filmfare (South) Awards for his Kannada songs as well. An untiring performer, Sonu’s official website says, “Stage and Sonu are words which go hand in hand.” And he has proven that right with live shows all around the world.

All shows of his current tour have been sold out and his popularity has reached such a high, that Sonu has decided to extend his stay in the USA till July 16. After his recent show in New York on June 9, Sonu will once again perform in that city in July.

The thunderous applause received after each song rendition was a standing testament to his ever increasing popularity. He also entertained requests from his fans during the show. He was accompanied by Jonita Gandhi and Diksha Nigam, who performed solo numbers at the opening and during half time break.

Indian Consul General in Chicago, Ms. Mukta Tomar attended the show. Other community members who were in attendance were Sunil Shah, Noor Tejani, Ram Gajjela, Naren Patel, “Mr Darshan Dhaliwal with his whole family And stff/friends, Raghu Nayak with wife, Mr Munir Chowdhary and wife,m Akhtar Ali with family, Mr Mansoor Lakhani with wife, Mr Sachu Khatwani with wife, Dipen Lakha with wife, Mafat Pate Dr Bisla with wife and so many more, ,Ajai Agnihotri FIA President and Mr Vivak Khanna and so manu volunteers and friends.

Besides performing some of his popular hits, he also paid tribute to Late Jagjit Singh and Mehdi Hasan who have made a significant contribution to Indian music industry. He belted out ever green hits of Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Kishore Kumar and Manna Dey bringing back the nostalgia of yesteryears.

It was a truly a remarkable show leaving the audience spell bound by his amazing musical talent! His heart and soul deeply imbibed with music brought out his inborn talent and passion for singing. The show ended shortly before midnight with Nigam thanking fans and organizers for their support

Sonu Nigam Top 10 popular songs
Suraj Hua Maddham (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham), Kal Ho Na Ho (Kal Ho Naa Ho), Tanhayee (Dil Chahta Hai), Pal, Pal Har Pal (Lage Raho Munnabhai), Saathiya (Saathiya), Satrangi Re (Dil Se)
Panchi Nadiyan Pawan (Refugee), Do Pal (Veer Zaara), Mein Hoon Deewana Tera (Deewana, Album)
and Kuchh Tum Socho (Deewana, Album)

40-day tour covering the Caribbean islands, Canada and the U.S.
June 8 (Atlanta, GA), June 9 (Trenton, NJ), June 10 (Seattle, WA), June 15 (Chicago, IL), June 16 (Dallas, TX)
June 17 (Toronto, CN), June 22 (Houston TX), June 23 (San Francisco, CA), June 24th (Vancouver, CN)
June 28th (Winnipeg, Canada), June 29 (Edmonton, CN), June 30 (Los Angeles, CA), July 4 (Fxwoods Casino, CT)
July 6 (Detroit, MI) and July 7 (Washington, DC)