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Vijay Prakash is an Indian playback singer and film composer from Mysore, Karnataka.  He has sung in Hindi films such as Blue, Yuvvraaj, Swades, Kaal, Lakshya, Matrubhoomi, Tere Naam, Cheeni Kum, Raavan and Force. He has also performed in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi movies. He has hosted the Kannada reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa on Zee Kannada and has also performed shows with Zakir Hussain.

He is also one of four singers credited for the song "Jai Ho", which won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song.  Specifically, he sang the portion with the words "Jai Ho" that takes an extended high pitch at numerous junctures of the song.  The song also won a Grammy Award in the category "Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media.  He has also won the very prestigious Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer - Kannada for the song 'Gatiya Ilidu' from the Kannada film 'Ulidavaru Kandante.

Early life

Prakash was born in Mysore, India to Carnatic singers L. Ramasesha and Lopa Mudra, and is himself trained in Carnatic music.

Career

After moving to Mumbai in 1996, he became a student of Suresh Wadkar.  Prakash was a participant in the program Sa Re Ga Ma on Zee TV, hosted by Sonu Nigam. He made it to the mega-finals in 1999. Later he compered Sa Re Ga Ma Pa on Zee Kannada. He got his first break in Hindi cinema with the film Baaz in 2002, and his first song for A. R. Rahman was in Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades, followed by the same composer's Tamil title track for the movie New.  His song "Kavite" in Kannada movie Gaalipata too became famous.

He has done backing vocals for about 25 foreign films, including the film Couples Retreat, with music by A. R. Rahmaan. He has recorded for ads like "Kabhi chatpataa" for Knorr Soups and "Na sar jhuka hain kabhi" for HDFC Life Insurance. In 2008 he sang the "Condom a capella" ringtone composed by Rupert Fernandes and produced by the BBC World Service Trust for an Indian safe sex campaign.  In 2009, his song, "Jai Ho", won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Original Song.

He was one of the Judges in Confident Star Singer 2 (Kannada), which aired on Asianet Suvarna in 2009.

He has sung "Om Sivoham", a Sanskrit song penned by Vaali and composed by Ilaiyaraaja which was the main theme song of 2009 Tamil film Naan Kadavul.

In 2010, he became a regular singer under composer A. R. Rahman, as he performed several of his numbers such as "Hosanna" (Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya, Ye Maaya Chesave), "Beera Beera, Veera Veera (in Tamil & Telugu Versions)" (Raavan & Raavanan), "Powerstar" (Komaram Puli) and "Kadhal Anukkal" (Enthiran).

Prakash has debuted as a music composer for the 2013 Kannada film Andar Bahar starring Shivrajkumar.

He also won the Vijay Music Awards for the Best Male Playback for the song "Hosanna" from Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa.

In 2013, he appeared as one of the singers in Coke Studio @ MTV performing with Clinton Cerejo and other artists. The song Baina (for which Vijay Prakash collaborated with Clinton Cerejo) from the same series was very well received.
In 2013, his song 'Khaali Quater', written by lyricist Yograj Bhat, went viral on social media.  The song 'Hoge' that he has sung for the film 'Nam Life Story' in Kannada is also going viral.

Prakash was also the brand ambassador of Nissan Evalia 'moves like music' campaign, which featured six young prominent artists of India.

He is one of the very few Indian musicians who have had the honor of performing at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA.