KARACHI: Bilaal Avaz was only 19 when a casting director from the American Idol TV show approached him on Instagram, where the Pakistani-American teenager would post his singing videos. Four years on, this young singing sensation is set to achieve another milestone by opening as one of the lead singers of the much-awaited anthem of the Pakistan Super League’s Peshawar Zalmi franchise.
Avaz, who describes himself as someone who just goes wherever life takes him, says both the American Idol and Zalmi’s anthem “came [to him] out of nowhere.”
“When I was 19, a casting director from American Idol messaged me on Instagram and asked me if I wanted to audition. I auditioned for them. They were like, ‘Wow, wow, wow’,” he told Arab News on Sunday.
“And then they sent me to Washington, D.C. and then I auditioned in front of the judges, which is Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan.”
Avaz started singing at the age of 15 and has appeared on TV shows, including Law and Order: SVU, as well as in Superbowl commercials. American Idol came to him as the “first legitimate credit as a singer,” he said.
This achievement boosted Avaz’s confidence, however, his second big achievement — to sing the Peshawar Zalmi anthem — also came to him randomly when the Zalmi Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Nausherwan Effandi approached him on Instagram.
“He messaged me on Instagram and said, ‘hey, mate, I run a cricket franchise called Peshawar Zalmi. And we make an anthem every year. Let’s get on a call’,” Avaz said.
Avaz, who opens the anthem with lyrics in English, flew in from the US to the southern Pakistani city of Karachi to record and shoot the Zalmi anthem, which he describes as the “best” Zalmi track. The anthem is set to be released in the next few days.
“This is the best [Peshawar Zalmi] anthem so far. I think that people are going to be really excited about it,” he told Arab News.
“We have an international producer, Naughty Boy, from the UK, and he’s bringing that global element to make this song more accessible outside of Pakistan.”
Avaz also appreciated the Zalmi management for offering its platform to new singers.
“It would be so easy for them (Peshawar Zalmi) to go and find some famous artists like Ali Zafar, Atif Aslam and be like: ‘Okay, do our anthem, make it good’,” he told Arab News.
“But no, they want to do something new because Peshawar Zalmi stands for something more, something larger than just the game there. They stand for something that’s cultural, and I really believe that they are one of the few cricket franchises that have the ability to have such a significant impact.”
Asked if Zalmi’s anthem would beat others, Avaz said there was no comparison of it.
