Hi!

Yes, I know it has been a while since I posted the Priya Awards blog and I know I was supposed to announce the winners a long time ago. But I have held off announcing the winners because I thought I would get a lot more nominations. I got a number but not as many as I expected, however, I have had a look through everyone that was sent to me and asked a number of people who they thought should win so here are the winners! (No one wins anything but it’s about creating awareness of the talents we sometimes do not notice or forget about!):

Best Social Media Influencer – Bobby Friction – “A great thinker and really connects with his fans and people around him” is how the person that nominated Bobby described him and I couldn’t agree more so i’m going to let that line do all the talking and just give you the link to Bobbys Twitter page and let his page speak for itself.

Best Blog – Amrita’s Perceptive Punch – A personal favourite of mine and evidently many other peoples is Amrita’s Perceptive Punch. It’s romantic, filmy, punchy, unique and relatable. Amrita always writes everything from the heart and you can tell no one loves every aspect of Bollywood more than this lady. Keep it up!

Best Photographer – MKV photography – Asjad Nazir once called Mala from MKV photography his favourite photographer and she’s even made me look good! Mala has her own unique style in which she makes the person being photographed feel beautiful as well as comfortable. Underrated and talented; Mala is someone who not just takes pictures of events, weddings and photoshoots but captures the essence of a moment and that is what makes her pictures memorable. Visit her website here.

Best Make Up Artist – Ravita Pannu Artist – do you want to be funky, trendy, traditional, sophisticated, unique, glam for a party, wedding or just a girls night out then the MUA you need to seek is Ravita! She has people stealing her pictures she’s that good! I am waiting for the day she can make me look so glam. Her pictures on Facebook speak for themselves.

Best Female Singer – Rita Morar – number 4 in the itunes chart, playing at Maida Vale and Glastonbury; Rita winning this was a no brainer! Rita writes her own songs as opposed to singing covers and her versatility see’s her singing in English and Hindi and across all genres from dance to soul to rock. This woman sings from her heart which her fans have recognised. I cannot wait to hear what she does next!

Best Male Singer – Jai  – Jai seems to have built up quite a fan base as many suggested Jai’s name in this category. I saw him perform live with truth myself and even though I’d never heard of him he caught my ear. Jai was recently featured in Eastern Eye so I think you will be hearing from him a lot more. Jai is versatile and also writes his own lyrics with emotion.

Best Band – Botown – they have been around for a while and I am yet to see them live but would not miss the opportunity if I had it. On the website Botown say they are “a multicultural Soul band that reboot Bollywood classics with a shot of late ’60 Soul and Funk. It’s an exciting culture-clash musical experience that takes you on a musical trip from Memphis to Mumbai. Imagine a legendary ‘60’s Soul band playing Bollywood music – that’s Botown!” as a Bollywood lover myself these were the perfect choice for this category.

Best unique sound – Flux. This band was nominated in this category and also the best band category but I chose them to be winners in this category because after seeing them perform live in Shoreditch I truly believe that there isn’t a band that does that Flux does. Preetha Narayan of the band actually bought tears to my eyes when I saw them live – “this band need no words to make their music” sing as Rita Morar told me

Best Kept Secret – Ritika Arya – Shai Hussain says “she single-handedly started up a chain of schools for underprivileged children in Delhi and won’t allow anything to get in her way. She’s level-headed, focussed and a truly great human being, but has no need to let the world know all the good that she’s doing. I also want to give Childrens author, independant speech and language therapist Priya Desai a mention personally for the work she does with young children in schools.

Thank you to everyone that took the time out to nominate. I do hope the above people have inspired you. Hopefully there will be more nominations next year!

Priya