Daily Times

KARACHI: ‘Coke Studio’ Season 9 culminated this weekend with the finale on Friday, releasing the last episode on digital on September 23, followed by television airing on Saturday.

Episode 7 was the longest episode of the season, featuring a traditional cover duet of the kalaam, “Aaj rung hai”, by Amjad Sabri and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. This is the last recorded qawwali by Amjad Sabri before his tragic and untimely death, and as such it is being looked forward to with huge anticipation by the entire nation.

As opposed to the previous six episodes featuring four songs each, there will be a total of six songs in the grand finale episode. Besides “Rung”, the other songs are “Nima Nima” by Shani, “Tu Kuja Man Kuja”, cover by Shiraz Uppal and Rafaqat Ali Khan, “Sab Jag Soye” by Shuja and Quratulain Baloch, “Dil Kamla” by Faakhir and Natasha Khan and “O Re” by Noori.

Season 9 of ‘Coke Studio’ was remarkable in terms of the many innovations it introduced and the new records it established. Just before the season started, the first innovation introduced was a special set-up, ‘Coke Studio’ for the deaf, which used latest technology to enable hearing impaired people experience the music of ‘Coke Studio’ in a unique way. A second innovation was the production of the songs for the season by six different music directors, under the overall lead of the executive producers, Strings. Season 9 also featured the most artists of any season, with 40 singers performing solo or in a duet with another artist, and 35 musicians in the house band, adding great depth to the season.

The popularity of ‘Coke Studio’ also reached new heights with Season 9, which even before the last episode still to come had crossed 100 million views and plays on digital media. The season was made available in one format or the other on no less than 13 digital platforms.