While the World Cup for Football drives people into frenzy, the world music syndrome has hit the United States of America. Starting a career in the world of advertising to winning the highest honors in the form of Grammy (2) and Oscar (2), and now on the biggest world tour ever – the pride of India A. R. Rahman.

From over 500 commercials to sales of over 300 million records, Rahman has definitely come a long way. Rahman revolutionized the intent of music, paved the direction for many singers and also gave the music industry a platform to experiment new digitized sounds. Anu Gopalakrishnan had a brief conversation with Rahman as he was on the road to New Jersey after an electrifying night at the Nassau Coliseum in New York.

Here is a Miindia.com exclusive. Some excerpts…

A.R. Rahman mentioned that the concert is a celebration of beauty, culture and spirituality. He further stated that the concert is unique and has been put together in collaboration with Amy Tinkham who has been hugely involved with concerts of pop icons like Paul McCartney, Dixie Chicks, Britney Spears, Madonna and the like. Speaking with excitement, Rahman said that the evening would be a rock concert with a theatrical experience of a beginning, middle and an end. India’s best singers will join world’s best dancers and the concert will also include acrobatics, new technologies, fascinating dance arrangements, LED screens, and global cast of dancers and musicians. In short, a virtual experience of fusion with India’s most talented singers like Hariharan, Shraddha Pandit, Benny Dayal, Rap Artist Blaze, Vijay Prakash (of Raavan fame), Javed Ali, Neeti Mohan, Raihana with other Rahman regulars. This truly will be a once in a life-time opportunity for fans attending the Detroit show this Saturday, June 19th at the Silverdome. As A.R. Rahman puts it – “this is the biggest concert I have ever done till date”.

Speaking about his selection of singers, ARR said that “a good singer is the one who has a good voice and a good flow”. In other words, the voice should be divine and should “touch you without any interruptions”. His response to the move away from monopolization of a few singers in the 90’s to several debuts in the new millennium, Rahman explained how in the past, singers have to be real good to enter the studio as the song is done in one take with 100 musicians listening to it. “It used to be a big deal. The singer was required to be perfect for the recording. Today, the scenario has changed. Due to line by line recording capability, singers have several opportunities. And to me, that is a big change in the working model of the Indian music industry”, added Rahman.

To many, A.R. Rahman has reached his pinnacle of success. What does he feel about this? Well, success is a relative term, according to Rahman. He further clarifies “apart from winning the Grammy and the Oscar, the real success lies in the success of my music school - KM Conservatory in Chennai/Madras. According to Rahman, “the school brings together all the experiments one can find and create in the field of music including audio engineering”. As a matter of fact, the students of KM Conservatory (AVS Ramana Rao, Ashwin Subramaniam and Jerry Silvester Vincent) are now the music directors of the new upcoming Hollywood release Art of Power, produced by Michigan based Indians Mohan Yellapantula and Sai Vummethala with Adrian Walker, Executive Producer (soon to be screened at the Detroit Windsor Film Festival).

A.R. Rahman truly hopes to see each and every music lover participate in the Jai Ho World Tour concert 2010 as according to him it symbolizes love and spirituality, the coming together of two worlds, the fusion of the creator and the listener.

An electrifying extravagant show with beautiful sets, world class performers, India’s best vocalists- all come together on one platform this Saturday, June 19th. Share the pride of being an Indian and a true lover of music because it is indeed rare to see an Oscar and a Grammy award winner from India connecting with us for world peace and harmony. Jai ho!

Click here for event details

A.R. Rahman’s World Tour Facebook link