Kiwi wins Bollywood singing competition

  • Breaking
  • 04/05/2014

An Auckland student is well on the way to making a name for herself in Bollywood after she won an international online singing competition.

At 21, Shirley Setia beat tens of thousands of hopefuls with a cover of a famous Bollywood song, and she now has thousands of subscribers to her YouTube channel.

Ms Setia entered a competition run by a major Indian music label on a whim. She even sang in her pyjamas.

"I knew that I was all the way in New Zealand and didn't think I would have a chance, but I gave it a go anyway," she says.

And it seems her relaxed attitude gave her an edge.

"You don't have to always have your videos super good. If you put your heart and soul into it, there are people out there who will appreciate your work."

Since winning, the university student has released more covers of Bollywood songs on her YouTube channel. Now it has more than 27,000 subscribers and her videos have almost 2 million views.

"I'm just so humbled by the entire experience and the entire support and encouragement I've had from my listeners, friends and family."

Ms Setia has even started to get revenue from advertisements.

But more importantly it has also opened doors to opportunities in the music industry.

"I've done collaborations with people from Canada, India and also New Zealand."

And Ms Setia even has her own radio show in Auckland.

While juggling her final year of a commerce degree, Ms Setia says it's difficult to keep up with her newfound fame. She is inundated with fan mail and even gets recognised on the street in India.

She would love to sing in a Bollywood movie herself.

But while she is waiting for the big call-up, she'll keep uploading the videos from her bedroom.

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source: newshub archive