Finally after many ifs and buts, and a considerable amount of delay from its usual time slot, Coke Studio Season 6 once again returns with a promise to hit back even harder. Last year there were even rumours that Coke Studio might not be happening at all but it was only 2 weeks ago when it got confirmed as the ‘press conference-cum-launch event’ for the season 6 was announced through invites to media fraternity.
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I was also one of those lucky persons to be invited to this prestigious platform to witness the launching of season 6. Right from the start, it seemed a lot bigger than the usual press conferences that had been taking place for the previous seasons. As soon as we reached the venue, we were given the official press kits that contained the press release for the event. Although I have already revealed most of the names from the line-up but still there came some big surprises in it. After the introductory formalities, the attendees were soon treated with a cover song ‘Jogi’ that featured Fariha Pervez and Muazzam Ali Khan from the upcoming season, setting the tempo high for the rest of the evening.
Rizwan U Khan addressing the media and guests at Coke Studio Season 6 LaunchLater on all the participating musicians were called up on the stage one by one along with the video messages sharing their Coke Studio experience. Sadly two of the big names who are part of this season,
Ali Azmat and Alamgir were not able to make it to the event. Over the period of last 5 years, Coke Studio Pakistan has really become an international success story and it’s a true fact that its phenomenal success has been a head turner even in the regional meetings of Coca Cola which is something to be really proud of as a Pakistani. Of many other notable facts, this time around Coke Studio will comprise of 6 episodes in total and will get air on record 40 TV channels that is certainly the biggest number when it comes to local media campaign history.
Umair Jaswal,
Atif Aslam,
Ayesha Omar, Zoe Viccaji and Sikandar Mufti Overall it was a very well managed event and included the elements that any successful event has. Unfortunately the musical genius, Rohail Hyatt himself did not turn up for the launch event because of his media shyness as declared by the officials. On the other hand, it would not be wrong to say that Atif Aslam truly stole the show by his presence. Last year, Coke Studio was criticized for being overly repetitive and predictable in its style of presenting music. What it seems from the initial outlook of this year’s studio is that people working at Coke Studio have really paid heed to this complain and have gone all out for delivering something that has never been done before.
The most exciting part of this year’s Coke Studio is that it has collaborated with artists ranging from 8 different countries such as Italy, Morocco, Nepal, Norway, Serbia, and Turkey. Local artists from Pakistan have also gone abroad to collaborate with international musicians and we are going to see a lot more hybrid videos in this season with diverse global influences. The visual techniques used in the upcoming season are something to really look forward to as it will try to integrate versatility of different cultural backgrounds. Many video pieces are going to be such that are recorded at different places but are finally fused into a single clip.
Coke Studio artist line up is also going to be a big plus as it has got some huge names on board and some old ones making a come back as well. Although there are couple of names on the list that are under severe criticism lately but still we can’t give any judgment until and unless we get to see their work. The complete airing schedule of Coke Studio will be revealed on 6th of October and the first episode hits the airwaves on 13th of October. Keep it locked to this space for more of info on this subject. There is surely a lot to expect from the upcoming season of Coke Studio. Hope we are not proved wrong :)
Cheers!
Photography Credits: Faisal Farooqui and his team at Dragonfly