Shweta records duet with Shreya!

The last week has been among the happiest for singer Shweta Mohan. That's because Shweta, who is the daughter of singer Sujatha, got a chance to sing with her role model, Shreya Ghoshal, on a Telugu track for none other than maestro IIlaiyaraja.

"It was a beautiful experience," she starts off, "I was always looking at how she was delivering her lines and getting her diction right and am happy that the number has come out well."

It was a challenge for the young singer to match with Shreya who's now busy in Kollywood. as well. "She motivated me a lot during the recording. Actually, I met her first at Rahman sir's studio when we were doing a song for Komaram Puli. Despite not knowing the language, she somehow gets her diction and 'feel' of the song perfectly. That's something I admire about her."
Post her much talked about marriage, it was rumoured that Shweta was settling in the US with her husband to manage his business.

"I don't know where those came from," she laughs, "I'm very much in namma Chennai and looking at singing in more projects." Her recent numbers in Ko and 180 have come in for much praise from the music fraternity. "The Amali... song in Ko was the first time I worked with Harris Jayaraj and it was a great experience," adds Shweta.

Considering that she's being much-indemand as a singer within filmi circles, does she think she poses a threat to her mom, the famous singer Sujatha? "Well, amma had stated in an interview that she's ready to compete with me. But as far as I'm concerned, I don't think I can ever be a competitor to her. She's somewhere on top...."

I don't want to make money from my music: Shreya Ghoshal

Amit her playback singing commitments, which take her across the country, reality television show shoots and public performances, Shreya Ghoshal has been finding little time to pursue a dream she's had for long -- release an album.

What she has been doing, though, is tweeting about her plans and asking for feedback from those following her on the micro-blogging site. "I am yet to get a fix on what I want to do for my album. But what's interesting is that I have a following spanning vast age groups amazingly, most youngsters have asked me to give the album a classical feel," she says. "I want it to be a Madan Mohan type of classic that people will want to keep in their collection," adds

Groups get more votes than solo: Manjeera

The first participant to be eliminated from X Factor, in her face-off against a group, feels groups can get more votes.

In its second week, the Indian version of the X-Factor has reached its first elimination. Manjeera Ganguly from Shreya Ghoshal's team was eliminated this Saturday and the participant was expectedly upset, considering the ouster came in a little too early, despite her impressive performance. "I am feeling low as the elimination came a little unexpected", says Manjeera.

Manjeera was in face-off with the Nirmitee group, a band of four students from Mumbai University. Was the competition too tough? "The Nirmitee group gave a wonderful performance, no doubt. But even I had put in a lot of efforts in my singing. In fact all the 12 finalists on X Factor are amazing singers", defends Manjeera.

Shreya Ghoshal bats for GV Prakash

The true test for any music composer is his ability to churn out melodies. That way, G V Prakash has proved his worth, said singer Shreya Ghoshal to CT recently, after receiving the Filmfare Award for her Un Perai number in Angadi Theru.

GV's always quiet but he thinks much beyond his age, she says, There's always something running in his head, about music, and about the song he's working on, she added.

The singer is thrilled to have worked with both GV and his uncle, the Oscar-winning A R Rahman, who she says, is someone who lets her explore her musical side to the hilt.

Shreya dislikes being called 'playback'

Shreya Ghoshal says she hates the practice of categorising crooners as "playback singers" in the Indian film industry.

"I'll tell you that one sad part of our industry is that everything is behind the screen. Singers are called playback, which is very derogatory according to me," Shreya told IANS.

The young and talented crooner, who has even won a national award, regrets that it takes a long time for the audience to know the real person behind the voices they love.

"When we go to perform anywhere, people come to see us and feel the personality. But the process of knowing how we look, how we talk, how we behave etc is very slow," she added.