Beating Covid blues by setting FB live on fire

KOCHI: The lockdown has led to the birth of many novel events on social media to keep people engaged and entertained. Many people revisited their latent talents during the period. Bruce Godinho, an IT professional with Wipro and a Fort Kochiite, is one such talent who won the online event ‘Facebook Live Lockdown Star’. “When the lockdown began in April, a page called ‘Facebook Live Lockdown Star’ was created by Brian Mark Cotter and Elaine Roach, who currently reside in the US. The page was created to keep people’s spirits high during the pandemic,” said 25-year-old Bruce.

The page was for all age groups and had certain rules and regulations. The winner of the contest would be given a cash prize of US $500. “I always wanted to be in the entertainment industry. So, when I came across the page, I decided to give it a shot,” he said. According to him, he had taken part in the first and second seasons of the competition.

“When I first joined the page, there were about 7,000 members. Now, the page has more than 26,000 members,” said Bruce, who is a self-taught musician. “It was not an easy win. But I wanted to prove a personal point. Growing up in a small community of Anglo-Indians, it was tough to gather their support for anything I wanted to do. I even went through depression in my teenage years. Hence, when the opportunity presented itself, I decided to go for it,” said Bruce.

Apart from school youth festivals, this is the first time Bruce participated and won in a contest. “Though I participated in season one, I couldn’t make a mark as I didn’t have the right amount of exposure or connection. The contest banks on the number of views, likes, comments and shares that a contestant gets to decide the winner,” added Bruce.

Up until the contest, Bruce was into pop, rap and electronic genres of music. “However, when I checked the audience demography, I saw that the lives were viewed by people between the ages of 25 and 70. So, I decided to learn other genres too,” he said. Hence, Bruce took to old country songs and other golden songs from the yesteryear.

“I sang classics by Elvis Presley, The Bellamy Brothers and the legendary rock band Queen. My family was very supportive and helped me learn these classics. I kept my live sessions different compared to most performers. I had themes, games, jokes and most of all, good singing sessions. I engaged with my audience and won their support,” said Bruce.Today, people call me up and say that I have a voice suited for country music, he said. The contest helped me break free from the depression I went through for many years, he added.