Bus blues banished by Forrest Hill girl’s song success

Forrest Hill 13-year-old Avishi Jain has won a hotly contested radio talent show – the youngest competitor to do so.

The Year 9 Westlake Girls High School student and her mother, Suchita, had to catch four different buses after school to reach Radio Tarana’s studios in Eden Tce by 6 pm to compete in rounds of its Idol competition.

But the effort was worth it when judges, listeners and supporters, including schoolmates, helped vote Avishi to victory.

The win comes with a $1000 cash prize and the chance to perform at events Radio Tarana hosts for its 57,900 weekly listeners, drawn from the Indian community. The station began in the 1990s and Tarana Idol was launched 14 years ago.

Avishi, who is in Westlake’s music academy which includes music theory classes, guitar classes, performances and other music related assessments, was delighted to win the radio quest ahead of adult competitors.

While she has always had a passion for singing it was her mother who entered her to help push her “out of her shell”.

After a nervous start performing live on air, Avishi gained confidence from the positive feedback of the contest’s three judges.

“On my first day I was really scared but the judges were really nice and supportive, which made me feel better,” she said.

The competition ran over 10 days (Monday to Friday) with new challenges thrown at the contestants each session, such as singing songs from the 1970s, taking a male role if

On air idol... Avishi Jain sang her way to success in a radio contest female, or vice versa, and having to adapt their song choice. Avishi worked hard to prepare, staying up until 11pm practising.

“My parents and family motivated me through it. Sometimes I wanted to give up but they supported me and kept me going.” Her mother says: “She kept practising and practising and also kept taking on more challenging songs.”

Avishi comes from a musical family and studied classical music in New Delhi for three years before her family moved to New Zealand in 2019.

While she says Idol will be her last radio quest, she hopes to sing live again and release her own music online. Her prize money is going into a fund for university study, with a degree in music or animation in mind.