Jyotirmayee Nayak celebrated her triumph on Indian Idol Season 16 with tears of joy and a radiant smile, emblematic of her months of dedication. The 24-year-old vocalist from Odisha shared her overwhelming feelings upon hearing her name declared as the winner, stating, “I was overwhelmed and had mixed emotions. I had manifested this for a long time and felt that every bit of hard work over those 10 months was worth it. There were days when I cried, days when I was angry, days when I laughed. Some performances were good and some weren’t, but overall it was a wholesome journey.”

Her family shared in her joy, with her mother beaming and her father breaking into dance. “My mom is very happy and my dad started dancing. They are overjoyed,” she remarked.

Among the valuable lessons she learned from the competition was the importance of accepting constructive criticism. Jyotirmayee noted, “Vishal (Dadlani) sir used to say there was a husk in my voice and that I should work on improving it. I took that positively because he is very straightforward. If he likes something, he says it. If he doesn’t, he says that too. So I worked on it, and later he told me, ‘I don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re sounding great. The husk is gone, and everything is spot on.’ That meant a lot to me.”

This was her first time on national television, yet music has been a constant in her life since childhood. “I started learning music from class three. I have been into playback singing in Odisha, but this was a completely new experience for me,” she explained.

Although her success on the show has led to new prospects in Mumbai, Jyotirmayee has no plans to leave her roots in Odisha. “I have been working in Odisha for the last five years, and I don’t want to leave my home state. I want to balance both. I also want to explore opportunities in Hindi,” she stated.

When asked about her motivations for joining Indian Idol, she expressed, “The purpose was to prove myself. In Odisha, I was singing, but I wanted people to know who Jyotirmayee really is as an artiste.” In addition to her singing career, she has also engaged in music therapy. “I learnt that music can help people heal. During my internship, I worked with cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. They were in immense pain, but when they listened to music, they would forget their pain for a while. It is a beautiful way of helping people heal.”