As red, green and gold make up for the preferred colour tone of the city, carols and Christmas songs become the favourite tunes this season. Musicians and singers of namma Chennai are putting their best foot forward and boosting the Xmas spirit with various performances across town.
But of course, the array of talent has something new to offer — enhancing their acts with some chutzpah. While these shows are all about carols and crowd-favourite oldies, this year, the singers put a new spin to their songs by doing a fusion of retro tracks, with newer numbers from the last decade. Although, the audience still request classics like A Blue Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock and Deck The Halls.
“Christmas gigs see more families, and we get many requests from them too. They like us to sing their favourite festive songs. In a recent show, I even got the children to sing along with me,” says Shilvi Sharon, who performs with the all-girl Diva Collective band this year.
The audience present is already familiar with most of the songs the singers perform. So the way they involve themselves with the gig is what makes them special.
The audience sings along with us, and most of them are familiar with the songs, and if not, they end up singing the wrong lyrics and that makes it even more fun,” recalls Sangita Santosham.
Singer and RJ Shilpa Natarajan will be performing an unplugged performance, unlike other seasons where she performs with a band. The way the venue is decked up adds a lot of cheer to the proceedings, she quips.
“The venues of Christmas shows are given a festive makeover — there is special food, so the whole mood of the gig is uplifted,” says Shilpa. Christmas also brings in a major change in the fashion game for these ladies. They keep up with the colour tones and we get to see a lot of glam and sparkle to their outfits. “When it comes to our outfits for these gigs, we definitely up the game and wear more festive and bright colours like reds and gold as opposed to the blacks and darker colours we prefer wearing normally, adds Shilpa.
One may wonder if the festive spirit has been brought down by the recent happenings in Chennai, including cyclone Vardah. But the singers insist that this season may just bring back the lost positivity — “I do feel that there is a dip in the whole Christmas spirit as it has been a dull December so far, but I am hoping for a change as Christmas and New Year are approaching,” shares Shilvi.
“It has been a pretty disastrous December, so I think people are looking forward to celebrate the season, forgetting what has happened and unwind and enjoy the day with their friends and family,” hopes Shilpa and signs off. After all, ‘tis the season to be jolly, no?
