MUMBAI: The third season of Indian Idol on Sony Entertainment Television will witness two new judges – Alisha Chinai and Udit Narayan along with Anu Malik.

The tagline of the third Indian Idol is ‘Ek Awaaz Jispar Ho Desh Ko Naaz.’

In addition to a recording contract with Sony BMG, the Indian Idol will be awarded a contract with Sony Entertainment Television worth Rs 10 million (Rs 1 crore).

Sony Entertainment Television executive vice president and business head Albert Almeida said, “As witnessed in the last two seasons of Indian Idol the third season too promises to take viewer engagement and interactivity to even greater heights while catapulting the Indian Idol into ultimate stardom. This year too, the channel will give talented singers from across the nation the platform to realize their dreams and put fame and fortune within their reach while offering distinctive and breakthrough entertainment.”

Sony Entertainment Television chief creative director Sandiip Sikcand added, “Indian Idol aims to showcase the biggest singing talent from across the nation in the most entertaining and involving manner. This season, the focus of the judges would be to help us find that “One Voice” that will be the pride of the nation. Indian Idol third season will offer a combination of great singing talent and entertainment for our viewers.”

This time round, the show will be hosted by actor Hussain Khuwajirwala, who replaces Aman Verma. On the other hand, Mini Mathur will continue as the other host of the show.

Auditions will be held in 12 cities namely Jodhpur – Bhubaneshwar (15 February), Hyderabad – Amritsar (18 February), Srinagar – Nagpur (21 February), Baroda (27 & 28 February), Bhopal (7 & 8 March), Kanpur (12 & 13 March), Delhi (17, 18 & 19 March), Kolkata (24, 25 & 26 March), Mumbai (31 March, 1 & 2 April).

Commenting on the new season of Indian Idol, FreMantle Media Asia managing director Patrick Schult said, “Idol has been produced in almost 40 countries worldwide. It is the most recognizable TV brand in the world and is considered a worldwide cultural phenomenon. We are very excited with the return of Indian Idol this year.”