Singer Priyanka Negi: Indian Idol 3 helped me discover my talent!

Singer Priyanka Negi is a busy woman. She has a lot of projects on her plate, however, she isn’t complaining. “I am working on a lot of projects now. I am also uploading a lot of cover videos on my Youtube Channel. I recently did Shape of You v/s Laung Gawacha, which has got a very good response. It has crossed 1.4 million views. I have also done one music cover for Zee Music called ‘Teri Wahin Hun Main’ and it also crossed 1 million views. I have recreated the song ‘Chura Liya’ which will be released by SaReGaMa Music soon. I am also doing a lot of songs for different music directors like Sajid-Wajid. So there are a lot of songs in the pipeline, I am just waiting for their release,” she says.

Talking about her journey, Priyanka says that she discovered she had real talent during Indian Idol 3. “It was in Indian Idol Season 3 that I discovered I had the talent in me to sing and perform because without any formal training, I went till Top 40. I went up to the Piano round, which was a huge thing for me because there were many candidates from all over India as well as abroad and out of them I was selected in the top 40, so it was a huge thing. It was then that I started my formal training from my Guru Mr Aniruddh Pandey in Delhi. That is how my musical journey started,” she says.

In fact, Priyanka is one of the few singers, who don’t have anyone else singing professionally in their family. “Nobody from my family is into music. I have a younger brother and a daughter and they are not into music. But my dad is in ONGC and he writes poems. He used to recite his poems in ONGC Officers' Club whenever they used to host events. I have seen him since then and from there I wanted to perform on stage. When I was in 3rd standard, I performed on the stage for the first time, I sang ‘Nanha Munha Rahi Hun’. That was the time when the stage bug bit me, I guess,” she says.

The singer still remembers the first time she sang on stage. “After becoming the finalist for Indian Idol 4, I did a lot of stage shows. The first show was in in the South, the experience was horrible, I cried after the show. I forgot the lyrics because I got very nervous in front of the crowd. I learnt that it is very different from what you have to perform in a reality show, where you just have to perform one song in front of the judges, but on the actual stage, you have to perform in front of the live audience for about 60-75 minutes. It was very difficult for me to memorize all the songs and handle the nervousness. But gradually, I understood that your presence of mind and confidence speaks a lot on the stage,” she says.

However, Priyanka has no regrets. “Talking about my journey, it was amazing. It was a life-changing experience. When I didn't get selected further in Indian Idol 3 after the piano round, I had decided that I will come back again with a bang. Call it my confidence or madness, but I was mad that I want to be in the show. Then, I started taking a formal training under my Guru Mr Aniruddh Pandey for one year. I used to practice for 8-10 hours. I used to bunk my college classes and go for singing classes. Then, I gave the auditions for Indian Idol 4. Anu sir remembered me. When they heard me again, they were mesmerised. And finally, I became the finalists,” she says.

She even released a multilingual album, which actor Govinda came to launch. “I came up with this album HIMSWAR which means ‘Himalaya Ke Swar’. I am from Dehradoon. I have never sung in Pahadi language for my people after Idol. So my family and I were planning this album for a long time. My dad supported me a lot for this. He wrote Pahadi songs for these albums. So, this album includes those 5 languages of the mountains and Govinda had come for the release. He appreciated the album a lot, he appreciated the efforts that were put in with the different languages like Gadwali, Jaunsari, Kumaoni,” she says.