Coke Studio's Season 10 launched amid fanfare

KARACHI: The milestone tenth season of Pakistan’s iconic music platform, Coke Studio, was launched at an emotionally-charged ceremony here on Friday, which was attended by the show producers, leading singers and musicians of Pakistan, socialites, senior management of Coca-Cola Pakistan, and a large number of Coke Studio fans and well-wishers.

Over the past decade, Coke Studio has established itself as the 'sound of the nation' and has been a proud ambassador and representative of the thriving Pakistani culture in over 150 countries across the globe.

Season 10 will continue to build on Coke Studio’s iconic philosophy of inclusiveness, bridging barriers and will celebrate established artists, as well as introduce the audience to new and upcoming talent.

In its 10th edition, celebrating Pakistan’s 70 years, Coke Studio will pay a series of tributes to the icons of industry. These icons, which include singers, lyricists, poets and composers, have helped shape the Pakistani music industry through their untiring contributions over the last 70 years.

The first episode went out live on digital media on Friday, and will be broadcast on television on Saturday across 40+ channels.

The episode honours Mehdi Hasan through a rendition of the famous track, 'Ranjish He Sahi', sung by Ali Sethi. The other songs in Episode 1 include 'Allahu Akbar' by Ahmed Jehanzeb and Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, 'Chaa Rahi Kaali Ghata' by Hina Nasrullah and Amanat Ali, and 'Muntazir' by Momina Mustehsan and Danyal Zafar.

Speaking at the launch ceremony of Season 10, Rizwan Khan, General Manager Coca-Cola Pakistan said, "It has been a momentous 10 year journey in every possible way, Coke Studio took the responsibility of reviving the music industry of Pakistan from the doldrums it was stagnating in, to the heights where it is today and where it belongs. Coke Studio has believed in creating original content as well as bringing back so many of the traditional songs of our glorious past and reintroducing them to a whole new generation.

"It has also endeavoured to introduce new and fresh artists and given them a strong platform to showcase their talent. As such Coke Studio has committed itself to reviving and shaping culture and making us feel proud to be Pakistanis," Khan added.

For the ardent fans of music in Pakistan, the milestone season 10 of Coke Studio promises to take this iconic music platform to even greater heights, setting also the momentum for more good things to come in future seasons.