'Fados' and more, hear these Goans sing in Portuguese

This Sunday evening, September 29, you could do something a little different from what you usually do.

Head over to the Menezes Braganza Hall in Panjim, and attend the Portuguese singing competition 'Vem Cantar', an event that brings some of Goa’s best vocalists, taking a shot at the prize.

There will be 26 contestants on stage this year in various categories, including group. And the level, says Dr Paulo Gomes, the Director of Fundação Oriente in Goa, is higher than of the last edition. It, therefore, promises to be an evening to remember.

Organised by Fundação Oriente India in collaboration with the Heritage Cell of Rosary College, Navelim, Vem Cantar has crossed a quarter of a century in Goa and is showing no signs of weakening.

This year, there were around 100 entries, a good 30 or so more than the previous edition, which indicates the popularity of the competition and how it’s gaining in strength.

One reason for the increased number could be the fact that Gomes has been visiting schools across Goa, that offer Portuguese as an optional subject to their students.

“At the schools, I speak not just of Fundação Oriente, but of the programmes, too. And, since the students always sing at these visits, the focus is on Vem Cantar.”

The competition, this year, will see a few changes -- the organisers promise more lights, more banners and a red carpet on stage to make ‘the contestants comfortable’.

There’s another change, a surprise for the contestants, but that will be revealed on Sunday at the event.

Gomes, who came to Goa in 2022, presides over his third edition of Vem Cantar, and he’s been bringing changes where possible. One of these will be in the form of the songs that will be sung on stage.

“We are also trying to adapt. Of course, the fado has importance in this competition, but this year, along with the regulations and entry forms, we provided a list of classical as well as contemporary music, not just from Portugal, but from Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde. It is good to see that in the finals, we have classical as well as contemporary music,” says Gomes.

Contestants were, however, free to pick any song of their choice and not restrict themselves to the list from the organisers.

There have been other changes as well. “We have changed the way we communicate with all the participants,” adds Gomes. From the entries received, the organisers select the finalists, which leaves many disappointed, and here is where Gomes steps in.

“I personally send an e-mail to those who have not been selected for the finals, and encourage them to compete the next year,” he says.

One variation last year was the live telecast. “We always review and analyse what we can change. The last edition was telecast by Doordarshan Goa, which I think is good as it gives an opportunity to those who can’t attend to watch the competition. They also interviewed the participants which gives them a boost.”

The finals will be telecast live this time, too.

Vem Cantar started off as an All Goa Portuguese Singing Competition, organised by the Heritage Cell of Rosary College, Navelim in the late 1990s and held at the college.

“It was started by us,” says Prof Allison Quadros, Coordinator of the Heritage Cell of Rosary College, and adds, “But, it became what it is with Fundação Oriente. The brainchild was that of Prof Newman Fernandes.”

A couple of years later, the college and the foundation collaborated to give it a new life and the name it still takes.

Today, as co-organisers the college is involved in auditions, selection of jury, workshops, sifting through the entries. The competition also still retains many of the sponsors who came in during the first years, which makes it special in a way.

But then, as Gomes says, what makes the competition a little more special is that most of the contestants don’t speak Portuguese, but they sing in the language. And on September 29, 2024, they will be competing for a prize by singing in a language they don’t speak.