I have watched very little of Indian Idol, but it worries me that one hears repeatedly that appearances matter more than talent in our version of what is probably the best talent hunt out there.  The reason it worries me is that the person who comes out of the contest could well turn out to be the next Himesh, rather than the next Kishore or Rafi or Asha or Lata (or SPB!).

Posted by Sumant on Fri, June 01, 2007 at 3:15:59

Actually, Sumant, this isn’t the best talent hunt, and it isn’t the most watched talent hunt. That distinction goes to Voice of India on Star, which used to be called Sa Re Ga Ma Pa on Zee.

And young man - you know who you are - Indian Idol gives them a chance, but what kind of chance is it when the audience is the judge? What chance that the winner of the competition is the best singer? And if the winner isn’t the best singer, what chance does he have?

Posted by Rahul on Fri, June 01, 2007 at 3:27:46

”What chance that the winner of the competition is the best singer? And if the winner isn’t the best singer, what chance does he have? ”

It doesn’t matter. The top four or five in each edition so far have gone on to make very good money on the live circuit, and a few of them have had albums out. Not possible before this show existed.

Sa Re Ga Ma and Voice of India are singing shows, not reality shows, in the sense that this takes you much closer to the participants. Also they’re made very, um, crassly!

Posted by Amit Varma on Fri, June 01, 2007 at 4:16:13

Sure the show is great. But is there not a sort of manupalation that goes with the editors and directors of this show. They edit, snip and snap portions and show them again and again as though that are meant to extract emotions of pity, satisfaction and bonding with a participant from the audience.  If they stuck to showcasing talent, it would be better.

Posted by Mihi on Fri, June 01, 2007 at 6:16:40

’am not a big fan of TeeVee (rarely remember it’s existence) but Indian Idol is something i love watching, haven’t watched Season2 but I remember Season1.
Sumant, I do not agree with ur view that appearances matter - atleast Season1 proved that it did not.
yes the show is immensely interesting because of the people - remember Painterbabu of Season1? and yes, I do regret that people of the previous generation totally lost out on an opportunity like this.
Also there was a similar one on good old Didi(DD) - i remember Sunidhi Chauhan winning ‘Meri Awaaz Suno’ in 1995/6 .. (ok, i shall stop now :)

Posted by Chimera on Fri, June 01, 2007 at 6:17:29

Im so glad u like the show… :)
I have been watching all the seasons of Indian Idol and I think this time they are going to have a tough competition…
Though i have a lot of frinds who are real exceptional singers, only one of them made it big… (vasudha sharma of aasma)
I wonder what keeps the others from auditioning, the thought of failure… or the thought of what their friends would say when they audition for these shows…
but then who cares, if they get the opportunity of making it big, who cares for what the others think…

I just hope the people of the country keep singing their hearts out and shows like these keep giving them a chance to make the dreams come true. :)

cheers

Posted by Pragnya on Fri, June 01, 2007 at 8:39:49

Sumant, agree with Chimera, it’s not just about appearances. Hell, tonight’s episode with the girls would have made that clear. None of them seemed to have been chosen for their glamour…

Chimera, who can forget Ravinder Ravi? Who? Not me!

Pragnya, I remember Vasudha, Pop Stars was also a nice show. Pity they stopped it.

Mihi, all story-telling involves those choices, of what to show, how to manipulate. The truest, grittiest documentary can’t avoid it.

Posted by Amit Varma on Sat, June 02, 2007 at 12:22:52

i loved tonight’s show....
almost all the girls rocked :)

can’t wait for tomorrow when the boys get to show their side of the talent…

are you voting for anyone? i wud still take some time to select my favorite amongst the females, but ya do have one amongst the males.

did get a telling off by mo tonte, coz i kinda got lost watching TV and forgot all about my dinner :)

you know Aasma is still going strong? they do a lot of shows across India and abroad too…

Posted by Pragnya on Sat, June 02, 2007 at 12:35:45

Well, I have thoughts on tonight’s show here.

And also: How to Predict the Next Indian Idol.

Dinner is dispensable. Who needs food? Pah!

Posted by Amit Varma on Sat, June 02, 2007 at 2:09:34

Last Indian Idol sucked. To have Sandeep Acharya winning was a shame.

A family friend of mine happens to be an influential man in Bikaner, where Acharya hails from. Apparently, everyone in Bikaner, and adjoining regions, were distributed spare SIM cards to vote for Acharya. Reliance’s SIM’s were hacked into, enabling people to send thousands of SMSes. A lot of money and effort went into making sure that Sandeep won. Plus, the north-south factor must have ensured Sandeep’s victory anyway.

But where is Sandeep now? Karunya, the runner up, has already sang for Lage Raho Munnabhai. Haha.

Ans as for Ravinder Ravi, he rocked. So what if he was a besura...Does a besura not hurt when you poketh him with a stick?

In Indian Idol 3:

I think Chang has an amazing voice among guys. Rooting for him. The Muslim boy from Lucknow is really good as well. Among the girls, Charu, Priyanka, Vanita stand out.

Seriously despise the Rocker, who called his singing partner a fucking bitch on TV. That was cheap, man. And that Ankita from Kanpur. Gosh, she is really talented but so darn annoying.

Most of all, three cheers for Anu Malek for being a good (though tamer) Indian version of Simon Cowell and then some. But still, Sonu Nigam is missed. Udit Narayan is a pleasure to observe. Hussein is way better than Aman Varma.

Looking forward to the performances.

Ok, I am done raving out.

Posted by berserk on Sat, June 02, 2007 at 6:34:20

> And they’re just like us!

By inference this means I am kool and full of masti. The mind boggles.

Is it just me or does Javed Akhtar elicit eye rolls from others as well?

Posted by Aspi on Sat, June 02, 2007 at 11:42:45

”But where is Sandeep now? Karunya, the runner up, has already sang for Lage Raho Munnabhai. Haha.”

Yeah, but they’d both have been utterly obscure if not for Indian Idol. Hoo ha ha.

”Is it just me or does Javed Akhtar elicit eye rolls from others as well?”

Aspi, the man could spout philosophy about a shoelace. His urge to show his wisdom is a primal force. It cannot be stopped. Sanity is under threat.

That said, he’s growing on me.

Posted by Amit Varma on Sat, June 02, 2007 at 11:48:12

Agree on all points regarding Idol predictions. I have had a long standing view that we should infact also be allowed to send negative votes in addition to favourable ones. Like your observations early on in the program, the besura candidates get voted out and as the numbers narrow down a few good singers are left. At that point, complacency might go against a good candidate(how I mourned melinda’s dismissal!) and regional associations might just push a candidate through. While a viewer might not be able to decide which candidate he likes better between two, he might know that there is atleast one he clearly despises and who does not deserve to win. Negative votes would serve to neutralize the region and family influence.

Posted by Ravneet on Mon, June 04, 2007 at 3:59:25

would support mihi’s POV… thanks

Posted by bhavna on Mon, June 04, 2007 at 4:31:31

Last Indian Idol sucked. To have Sandeep Acharya winning was a shame.

Thank you! I was dying thinking of the winners name. Point: These guys have a career span of say 2-3 years thanks to the show. To go beyond that, they need to have real talent and a worldliness about the world they enter. Which, I think, the show should teach.

Posted by Aditya Kuber on Wed, June 06, 2007 at 9:56:53

\IT IS NOT UNDERSTOOD VERY CLEARLY WHETHER |Indian Idol is promoted to encourage music or the telecommunications. My comments could hurt but it is obvious from the way EMON was removed that the ordinary public who do not have any knowledge in music is made to vote the idol with 4 dummy judges not to decidde the fate of the participants but leave to the mercy of the public promoting the Deptt. of telecommunications.U R discouraging and demoralising the people with art.Its a waste to watch people not worthy of the title to be awarded a title.

Posted by S.GEETHA on Sun, September 09, 2007 at 7:14:58

Hi Sir/Mam

Could U let me know the date and venue for II4 audition in Delhi. I have registered myself thrice but didn’t get any response…

Many people also awaiting for the same.
I will very thankful to you..

thanks and regard
Anand Singh Bisht
09891711306

Posted by Anand on Mon, May 19, 2008 at 10:14:03

How did this turn out?

Posted by All In One on Mon, May 19, 2008 at 11:06:03