RESULT G.R.7

MEENAL IS OUT

Before Antara, Karunya, Amey, Meenal, Sandeep and Anuj walked onto the stage together for the last time, they all held hands and said a prayer for friendship together.

At a time like this, where the uncertainty of their future is so evident, they felt praying would keep them calm.

As the cameras began to roll, the Judges were asked their opinions on who they thought would not make the break into Indian Idol`s Top Five.

Anu Malik and Sonu Nigam felt Anuj, Meenal and Sandeep would be in the bottom three, but Sonu Nigam also added that the audience would probably feel that either Antara or Karunya should be voted out.

Farah Khan`s guess was that Sandeep, Anuj and Amey would earn the lowest number of votes.

However, according to the official vote count, Meenal, Karunya, and for the first time Antara, were the three in the Dangerous Bottom Three.

`I don’t know what this country is looking for when they cast their votes,` said Judge Farah Khan.

`The three who we felt will definitely be in the Top 3, have got least number of votes,` said Anu Malik who had always pointed towards Anuj or Sandeep to be voted out this week.

`Yet again a good singer will be voted out. What fault does the audience see in a flawless singer like Karunya?` asked Sonu Nigam, who always felt that he deserves to be in the top 3.

While all three were singled out and made to stand apart from the others on stage, the audience waited anxiously to hear the name of the one who would leave. The result was finally announced and Meenal Jain was voted out.

The strong Meenal took defeat in her stride and kept her head held high throughout the shoot. Host Aman Verma referred to her as the Queen of the Bottom Three, as she had taken the news with such sportsmanship and dignity.

But this would not last long, as Meenal broke down towards the end of the show during the `Thank yous`. She choked while thanking her mother for all her support. Meenal`s parents have sacrificed a lot for their daughter’s singing career, and have even lived in separate cities so that she could get the right training and exposure.

After a repeat performance of the song she sang in the last gala, the judges congratulated her on her effort so far and wished her luck for the future.

`Meenal had been a consistent performer and a very diligent singer,` said Anu Malik, who had actually congratulated her on stage after her last moving performance of Hum Dil De Chunke Sanam.

He made it a point to promise her a chance in a movie of his. Farah Khan, however, had said that her last performance was `boring` and didn`t have the thrilling factor that she had displayed before.

Sonu Nigam, too, had felt that there was a sort of laziness setting into Meenal`s performance, saying maybe her success on the show so far had got to her head.

As Meenal, too, walked away from her dream of being India`s Agla Idol, her last performance on stage was the Kishore Kumar hit Yeh Jeevan Hai.

With Meenal out, the Top Five contestants are Karunya, Antara, Anuj, Sandeep and Amey. Antara remains the only girl on an all-boy stage.

Will she be the Girl Idol that Anu Malik has been predicting al these weeks or will she, too, join Meenal off stage next week?

Catch the next episode of Indian Idol to see how they perform and cast your votes for India`s Agla Idol!