The Gera Plaza atrium was converted into a veritable stadium, with supporters of France on one side and supporters of Brazil on the other. Tiny coupons were handed out to both the parties to claim a free drink if and when their favourite team scored a goal . Not just that, even T-shirts with soccer imprints were handed out. Sure made for a night that the folks at this jam-packed venue are unlikely to forget in a hurry.

All's well that gels well
Singer Lucky Ali has a new collaborator - this one from our very own Pune. Kaustubh Dhavale, aka Koko, lead guitarist with the band Agni, has joined up with the Sifar guy in scoring music for the forthcoming film, Dum Dum Diga Diga. ``We are old friends and I have known him from before Sunoh, when he was plain Maqsood bhai,'' says Koko who has scored five of the film's tracks while Ali has scored three. ``We work well together. I like the kind of treatment he gives to my compositions when we work on tunes together. He makes it sound different. So we decided to do an album,'' he says. Hit the rewind button, people.

Even as everyone wants to rush towards the 21st century, here are some folks who have decided to go into the flashback mode and hold a `Retro Nite'. Organised by That's Entertainment and sponsored by Venky's, the party promises to take everyone back in time with music from the '60s, '70s and '80s.

There will be 15,000 watts of Elvis, The Beatles, Abba, Boney M, Wham, Steve Winwood, Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin and plenty more to make for a night of rock `n' roll, disco, pop and reggae. According to the organisers, it should also be one of the biggest parties Pune has seen, as a crowd of 2,000 people is expected.

The USP of the event will be the presence of Ryan Beck, the winner of the recent `War of the DJs' contest (Western region), who will play the music ``till the wee hours of the morning.'' Entry is by invitation and on donation passes. So all ye party birds, take out your dancing shoes and get ready for the night of July 18, at Koregaon Park's Vrindavan Gardens.

Black is beautiful
Yet another beauty contest is being held in town. This one titled the Pepsi-Black Cadillac Queen has been organised by Shekhar Sable and his team. As the title quite clearly indicates, the show is going to be held at Black Cadillac, where eight wannabe beauty queens (short-listed from 65 applicants) are going to vie for the crown.

The highlight will be the presence of the Femina-Miss India Universe 1998 - Lymraina D'Souza - who will also participate in a fashion show to be held on the occasion. Other celebrities walking the ramp that day include Femina-Miss India Beautiful skin - Diandra, L'Oreal Femina Look of the Year finalist - Nigar, Gladrags Supermodel 1998 - Tarun Arora, Mr Pune Personality '98 - Prashant Dua and Miss Teens Today '98 - Monalika. ``It's happening in a pub, it's happening in a big way, and it's going to be different from the others,'' insists Sable. We sure hope so.

Studio Ga Ga
Want to be a singer but did not quite know how to go about it? Well, here's a helping hand. Suhaas Chandra and Shital Chandra, the father-son duo of stage artists and composers, have revamped their `Studio Sterec' to provide it the latest digital and analog facilities to help create the most professional sound.

Claiming to have the biggest and most spacious digital multi-track recording studio in Pune, where more than 50 artists can be recorded at a time, the Chandras have decided to go in for artist promotion in a big way. ``All a singer has to do is to come to us with his/her voice and we will do the rest - from recording the numbers to marketing the album,'' elaborates Chandra, a professional guitarist with more than 300 rock concerts to his credit.

His father Suhaas is a step ahead, with 35 years in Hindi and Marathi film music and 2,000 stage performances. Together, the duo has mastered various instruments and has done more than 5,000 hours of recording, that include Hindi and Western pop, rock music, film songs, drama and film background scores, bhajans, kirtans and commercial jingles too. With Studio Sterec going high-tech, they now hope to write a new chapter in their musical careers. In fact, Shital is on the verge of bringing out his own album, the one he has been working on for the past two years. Well, charity does begin at home.