A personal Report on the experience of winning the Smule contest winner Nidhi Agrawal
It was in December of 2021 that I received an invite from Smule to join the Benny Dayal Contest. The winners of the contest are offered a chance to meet and greet as well open a concert for Benny Dayal. I was so excited to hear about this contest that I immediately joined his invite on his famous pop number and my own favorite Bang-Bang song.
Later a few days later, I got a call from the Community Manager, Mr. Frazer Fernandes, saying that I’d been selected as one of the winners for Benny Dayal’s contest. Here’s the official Instagram declaration link https://www.instagram.com/p/CXi29HQoia9/.
Nidhi says “Pinched me once, to make sure that I am not dreaming. Then things started getting in place, I had to join another winner Srini on the venue Badmaash, UB City, Bangalore on 18th December. Smule arranged everything for me.
I reached the venue and met with co-winner Srini. We both had to give our solo performances on stage in front of a huge crowd. As it was the first stage performance of my life, for me every bit of this experience was so exciting. First, I had to go for a soundcheck session with the help of an awesome Smule team. I was almost jumping with joy to give my solo performance on stage with such an enthusiastically energetic audience. I couldn’t think about anything else. Can’t go without telling here the tremendous encouragement and support from many Smule officials repeatedly telling me “you are going to Rock the stage”, made me believe in myself and go for it.
Being on the stage that day was like nothing else I had experienced in my life. Finally, that moment that I was waiting for came in the evening for sharing the stage with one of the superstars of India’s music industry Benny Dayal. The audience on the floor was super amazing throughout and thanks for all those overwhelming cheers by the beautiful people singing alongside, much-needed vibe for a musician.
On stage, I was so nervous, despite all that thank God that I could perform well on stage. Another highlight was as promised we get to meet with the great musician one on one with Benny Dayal. It was so lovely talking with him, such a great human being, a down-to-earth person, and above all an amazing talent. He congratulated us on being selected as winners and appreciated our on-stage performances. We had a wonderful time talking and taking some pictures, selfies. Overall, it was an amazing experience to open a concert for Benny Dayal. This event was like a dream come true for both of us. I am overjoyed to experience this lifetime opportunity given by Smule to me. Thanks a lot to Frazer for facilitating such a great event.
What changes does this experience make in your music life? Why Smule‘s such activities needed more. Was the process according to you properly done?
Definitely, I am looking forward to experiencing more such opportunities in the future. I will be singing more enthusiastically, thinking about taking some classical music training too as I want to enhance my love for music.
Please go ahead and describe more about you as a singer and yourself.
“I am Nidhi Agrawal. I was born and brought up in India’s oldest living city Benares which has its own rich history and treasure of music. Music always fascinated me. I am a self-taught musician and very interested in all music forms of India. Music has always been there with me all through my growing stages. Other than music as a passion, I completed my M.Sc. in Statistics (from Banaras Hindu University). Professionally I am a teacher working in Bangalore. I am following my passion for singing with the support of my husband and two daughters.”
Something more about your music?
“As it says ‘Blessed is the night bird that sings for joy and not heard”, this describes me and my singing. I must say Smule came into my life like a blessing. Before that I never had an idea that recording a song like a pro is that easy, it was like carrying a whole studio in your phone. Smule became an integral part of my daily life. Not only did it boost my confidence but also enhanced my musical skills as a medium that kept the record of my daily practices and progress. I just love the way things were turning up. Here I could connect with the people who are crazy for music just like me. I can say proudly that I earned a few lifetime friends here. I started loving to sing Unplugged versions of any song that I could do creatively on my own. I think the rhythm of the music is in sync with my heartbeats. Totally an out-of-the-world experience. Loved everything about Smule, videos effects, audio mixing techniques that’s what a musician like me can ask for. It gave soul to my music, my own whole world. I could try to become more versatile here by singing all-genre songs, which include soft, fast, and peppy numbers.”
So where is your music going to be in five years? Serious about this?
“Singing is a powerful tool for self-realization and for the nourishment of its listeners. I love to recreate many of my favorite film songs with silky harmonies, modulate in my own way, in turn, heals my inner self. The softer you sing, the louder you’re heard.
I have been a proud Smuler for six years. When you are getting a chance to sing with famous profound Bollywood singers without going anywhere, I must say it is the icing on the cake. On the Smule app, I had the rare opportunities to join Yasser Desai, Darshan Raval, Armaan Mallik, Jassi Gill, Salim Merchant, Sukhbir, and more people. I can still remember that almost one year ago, I joined the renowned Indie Pop singer Nikhita Gandhi on her famous song Jhalle-Kalle. I was selected as one of the winners of #JhalleKalleChallenge.We all the winners got a chance to meet up with Nikhita Gandhi through Zoom meeting session. It was an unforgettable experience totally.
Lastly, I would like to say I love ‘Smuling’ which means smiling and I would be doing it with all my heart forever. My heartfelt thanks to Smule for everything, it’s just a milestone, miles to go.
Nidhi Agrawal
Smule id- @preeshita
Some of the selected songs from Nidhi’s Smule profile
