NEW YORK:-  Arya Khanal, a 13-year-old girl from Columbus, has won first place in a singing competition held among Nepali talents living in seven cities in the United States. Similarly, 13-year-old Khushi Adhikari from Columbus was declared the winner of a dance competition held among seven cities.

Talents from Columbus, Akron, and Cincinnati in Ohio, as well as Harrisburg, Lancaster, Pittsburgh, and Scranton in Pennsylvania, all of which have large populations of Nepali organ American, participated.

In the competitive performances held on December 20 and 21, Cincinnati’s Digant Gurung came in second place in the singing category, while Lancaster’s Ayusa Chapagain was the second winner in the dancing category.

Similarly, Kunjan Subedi from Columbus came in third in singing, while Samantha Chhetri from Harrisburg won third prize in dancing.

Distributing awards and certificates to the winners, he also informed that the foundation is conducting seven Nepali dance and music classes in seven cities to teach people to live their lives with pride in their Nepali ethnicity.

In a dance competition between groups of 10 students selected through auditions at school, the Lancaster, Pennsylvania group came in first, the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania group came in second, and the Columbus, Ohio group came in third.

The first place winners in the solo singing, solo dancing, and group dancing categories received a prize of 3,000 US dollars, while the second place winners received 2,000 US dollars, and the third place winners received 1,000 US dollars.

The judges for the singing category were famous Nepali singers Anju Panta and Sujata Verma, and singer Arjun Rasaili, while the judges for the dance category were famous Nepali film hero Dilip Rayamajhi, actress Saranga Shrestha, and choreographer Aarti Sharma.

According to program coordinator Chandra Parajuli, a competition was held among 22 people selected from seven cities in the singing category, while 34 people and 6 groups were selected in the dance category and the final competition was held.