Dhaka: The second largest mobile phone operator company Robi organised an A Cappella singing contest for the first time in Bangladesh from 28 December and will continue for a month.

A press conference was held in this connection at a city hotel in Dhaka.

Partho Barua was present at the press conference along with Robi’s Chief Operating Officer Mahtab Uddin Ahmed and Robi’s General Manager (Value Added Service) Faisal Mahmood.

A Cappella music involves group or solo singing without instrumental support. Capturing the attention of the audience through singing using only vocal chords takes special skill. That’s why this form of singing has captivated the audience the world over.

This unique contest allows the fans to record their songs that were originally sung by Partha Barua over his long illustrious career. Through an IVR based system, contestants can first listen to an A Cappella version of the popular song ‘Hajar Barsha Raat’ sung by the artist and then record any of his song or any other bangla song without the use of any instrument.

In order to subscribe to this service, one needs to dial 83655 and follow the call flow instructions or SMS START C1 and send to 83655 or dial *8365*6# to purchase Tk. 2 pack and SMS START C2 and send to 83655 or dial *8365*8# to purchase Tk. 5 pack (SD and VAT applicable with all prices). They can also do the same by following the instructions after dialing 83655. This subscription comes with auto-renewal feature. The subscriber can add their free minutes balance anytime with top up and listen to other contestants’ uploaded ‘A CAPPELLA’ songs as well. This service also allows the users to change their previously uploaded “A CAPPELLA” song.

For setting up Partha Barua’s A Cappella song ‘Hajar Barsha Raat’ as GoonGoon, one can send an SMS to 8466 typing get 4726023 code. A video of that particular song is also available to be viewed on Partha Barua’s facebook fan page and on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS1ULAJR4sM.

All Robi subscribers are allowed to take part in this A Cappella song contest. Contestants can take part as a solo singer or as group singers.

Following the end of the contest, all the uploaded A Cappella songs will be reviewed by Partha Barua. He will make the final decision on who becomes first, second and third. All the winners will get the opportunity to sing their A Cappella song with the famous singer. They will also get iPhone 6S+, 6S and 6 series handset respectively. Radio partner of this singing contest is Radio Today.