Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Religious Indian Idol On Astha

The Indian version will enjoy a vast audience, especially among the young - regarded as key viewers by Aastha.

The show will be known initially as Religious Indian Idol.

The show is presently in the planning and pre-production stage. It is scheduled to go on air during the festival season around September.

'No losers'

Prizes include vacations at various religious sites across the country.

The producers plan on making the programme as broad-based as possible - from visiting schools and colleges across the country to launching the programme in three Indian languages.

Kelly Clarkson on American Idol
The show hopes to emulate the success of its American counterpart

Aastha Chairman Kirit Mehta told the BBC News website they would encourage people from different backgrounds, religions, faiths and sects to take part in the programme.

"The songs will be in keeping with the profile of the channel. There will be folk music, folk dances based on festivals, classical songs based on God or philosophy or life's values, so we will have this kind of a broad classification," he said.

Bollywood dance songs will not be allowed, but should a devotional song feature in a movie, a participant will be allowed to sing that in the programme.

Mr Mehta said it would be an anchor-based show and there would be a panel of judges, but the details were still being finalised.

The winner will be chosen on the basis of the judges' decision and a public vote, but Mr Mehta maintained the show would be different from the others because there would be no losers.

"There is no competition," he said.

"It will not be like someone saying 'I am better than the other person so I have to sing and dance very well,' there will no pressure there.

"There will only be the joy of competing very honestly and frankly."

Reality shows have been popular amongst Indian audiences, especially when they feature film and television stars.

Sheetal Jain
I wouldn't mind participating in such a programme
Sheetal Jain

Indian versions of shows Pop Idol and Strictly Come Dancing enjoy tremendous popularity among viewers of all age groups.

Mr Mehta said it was hoped a music-based programme would draw a wide cross section of viewers in addition to the young.

The idea has caught the fancy of some youngsters.

Seventeen-year-old Jinay Savla says he would not mind participating in such a programme, and would certainly watch it.

"I think our generation believes more in God and is not afraid to show it as compared to the earlier one.

"I would love to see people sing such songs from their hearts, it would be quite an experience."

Religious discourses

Another student, Sheetal Jain, said she would also try and catch the programme whenever she could.

"I attend classes where I learns about my religion, Jainism and I think I am quite religious by nature. I wouldn't mind participating in such a programme," she said.

However, computer instructor Vandana Parekh feels religion is something personal that one "does in one's free time" so Religious Indian Idol will not draw her to the sofa.

"I don't watch any religious channel because where is the time? I go to temples every now and then and my daughter also attends religious discourses but that's as and when we can manage.

"I think such a programme would certainly create some interest among those who already view religious channels.

"There are already so many such similar programmes running on entertainment channels, I doubt if such a programme in itself would be enough to attract more viewers to a religious channel," she said.

Jolly Das Out

Friday Night, the 12 Finalists expressed their personalities by selecting suitable songs! Some were good, some were average and some were really bad! On Saturday night – one more contestant was sent home packing…

Mini Mathur and Hussain started the show by informing us how awesome the performances were and how Abhishek Kumar, Jolly Das and Smita Adhikari succumbed to great pressure and could not perform that well! They also stated how Prashant Tamang and Charu Semwal received negative comments from Annu Malek, but added that ultimately the voters had decided the fate of one contestant… Who will be staying? And who will be leaving?

This is Indian Idol 3 – The Result Show!


Before the Bottom Four were disclosed, they showed a clip of a Pakistani family, which visited the Indian Idol wannabes as they were great fans of the show! Their interaction with the 12 Finalists was really sweet! The Finalists sang, "Roo-Ba-Roo" and dedicated the song to the family! I must mention that the lady (I think she was the mother) personified class and looked very dignified and smart! Actually the entire family was great! The contestants were really pleased by the visit and Meiyang Chang said that he prays that the tension between the two countries gets resolved sometime, so that they too can visit Pakistan and interact with the people there! The family said that meeting the contestants and the reception they received was way more than they had expected!

Hussain stated that music can bring hearts together! Actually Hussain I think Art does that! Any Art! In fact, I think Art is the only thing that transcends all the boundaries and all the barriers!

Well, it was a feel-good clip and I thought it was a great start!

Next up was Makeover Story – on Friday Night they had ended the show with a cliff-hanger of sorts, it was about Smita's new avatar! So after showing the awful clip of negativity that surrounded Smita's personality (starting from Annu Malek telling Smita that she had a boring personality to Smita saying that people disliked her looks) they showed consulting optician, dermatologist and stylist, and then Hussain and Mini introduced the new Smita!

I'll admit she looked good, but if I have to be really honest, I don't think she looked bad to begin with! Sure, her skin needed serious treatment, but besides that Smita is a cute gal! Anyway, the hair colour, the contact lenses and the dress worked – she did look glamorous! Annu told her that she acquired an exciting personality (Oy!), but now she had to concentrate on singing in tune!

With that the elimination process started…

Mini asked the judges, who they thought should go home…

Annu Malek chose Jolly,
Alisha Chinai selected Jolly,
And Udit Narayan picked Jolly!

Javed Akhtar Saab wasn't present, but I guess he too would have singled out Jolly!

The hosts turned to the Contestants and asked them the same question…

Smita Adhikari chose herself

Parleen Singh Gill chose Jolly

Puja Chatterjee chose Charu

Meiyang Chang chose Smita

Charu Semwal too chose Smita

Abhishek Kumar also chose Smita

Prashant Tamang went with Smita

Ankita Mishra chose Jolly reluctantly

Amit Paul chose Smita

Deepali chose Jolly

Emon Chatterjee chose Smita

Jolly Das chose herself

Phew!

So if you are not keeping count – 7 Contestants including Smita herself thought that she should leave, while 4 Contestants including Jolly thought that Jolly should leave!

Mini then concentrated on Smita, Parleen and Puja, and not surprisingly, Smita landed in Bottom Four! Parleen and Puja were declared safe!

Hussain turned the attention towards Chang, Charu and Abhishek and said that he had bad news for one of them and called on Abhishek's name and said that they'd disclose it after a break! Coming back from the break, Hussain kept these three in limbo and moved towards Prashant, Ankita and Amit!

Amit was the first one declared safe! Ankita too was established safe quickly and so was Prashant! Mini brought the focus back on Chang, Charu and Abhishek and declared that they all were safe!

WHAT?

Emon and Deepali were in Bottom Four? Seriously?

Ok, I can guess that maybe Annu's comments about Emon and the so-called over-confidence might have swayed brain dead voters, who vote listening to Annu, but what is the excuse in Deepali's case? The gal was flawless, her voice is amazing and frankly her inclusion came as a huge shock! Actually it was equally shocking to see Emon in the Bottom Four, the kid is a great singer and although I criticized his performance, I criticized him based on his standard and no way in heck is he a Bottom Four candidate!

Oh yeah, Jolly too was in Bottom Four as expected!

Mini asked Deepali if she had expected to be in Bottom Four, Deepali stated that since all the singers were really good, anyone can get eliminated including herself! Next Emon was asked about it and he said that due to the criticism he received by the judges, he had prepared himself for elimination!

Deepali was declared safe and I assure you there was a collective sigh of relief!

Hussain asked Smita that she had come on the show with many desires and if she is ousted how would she feel, Smita stated that she never expected to reach this far, but thanks to the viewers she made it this far despite her bad looks! Oy!

Hussain asked the judges to comment on the Bottom Three

Annu almost screamed that Prashant should have been in Bottom Four, (I didn't think Prashant was bad at all) with Charu! (That I agree with!) Annu questioned juntas' selection of Bottom Four! He asked, "On what basis did the junta choose Emon?" Err… Hello! I think you were the most vocal critique of Emon and yet you ask this? Ever heard of irony?

Annu then rattled that compared to Emon, Parleen (who he had praised lavishly) and Abhishek have to work really hard to get to Emon's standing! Ouch!

Udit said that he too was shocked to see Emon and Deepali and then more or less stated that he had performed well, but it seemed like Kolkata did not vote enough as all three were from Kolkata!

After that…

Emon was quickly put out of his misery and was declared safe!

Annu stated that he was very relieved that Emon was back in the game!

Why? So you can damage his spirit again? And what was with that awful suggestion that Emon should sing in a thicker voice when he reaches the upper register? As far as I recall Javed Saab had asked you to give pointers to Emon about it – which you didn't – at least on the show and if this is your extend of help, I am surprised you survived this long!

So the Bottom Two were Smita and Jolly – as I had guessed!

Mini declared that Jolly Das was leaving the show! Smita was declared safe!

Jolly was admirably calm and composed, the contestants however seemed crushed! Charu had tears run down her cheek, even Ankita had tears in her eyes, Smita obviously was crying and then Abhishek! Ok, I am sorry but I think his reaction was more for the camera, because it was in excess! I can be wrong, but I didn't see any tears in his eyes!

They showed Jolly's journey and well it is always heartbreaking to see anyone's dream wither away! So despite me not liking Jolly's voice, I was rather sad!

Jolly sang, "Gazaab Ka Hai Din" rather well, I think song choice killed her chances! I was really surprised by her composed demeanour, but when the contestants joined her on the stage, she finally broke down! One word – Heartbreaking!

So Jolly finally said goodbye to Indian Idol stage paving way for 11 Finalists!

Next week, Shabana Azmi presides as a judge! I have no idea about Shabanaji's musical knowledge, but I know it would be an excellent show! So see y'all on Friday!

Cheers!

Indian idol sang in hyderabad

The 4th CISM Military World Games being held in Hyderabad will always hold a special place in the hearts of the 11 Indian Idol finalists as they got the opportunity to sing Live for the first time on July 08, away from the Mumbai studios where they shoot for the reality programme.

Beginning with the title track of Salaam-e-Ishq, the singers entertained everybody with solo and duet performances. Most of the contestants except Prasant, who is in the police service and Meiyang Chang, a dentist, are still in college. And there are others like Pooja and Emon, who are in class 12.

They all aspire to be playback singers, composers or music directors after completing their studies and want to work with A. R. Rahman or Anu Malik. The contestants loved the crowd turnout and grew a bit more confident about their singing abilities after getting a positive response from everyone present.

But for Parleen Singh Gill, this moment was a bit more special because, "My father is an army officer and I can't explain how good I am feeling today to perform in front of three defence chiefs from the Army, Navy and Air Force. It is a matter of pride for me and my family." Gill says.

This doesn't mean the rest were less excited as Meiyang confesses he loved it when the audience sang along with them. Even Deepti, another contestant was overwhelmed with the response they got and said,"I had always heard that the South Indian audience was very cultured and understood music. After coming to Hyderabad I now know that the above statement is correct."

Seconding her is Abhishek Kumar who said, "We are performing Live for the first time. But it never felt like we are in a new place, before a new audience. Thanks to the encouragement and response we got from the Hyderabadi audience."

Class 12 student Ankita was enjoying a dream come true moment as she confessed, "It feels so good to perform in front of so many people."

Compared to Indian Idol I and II, the contestants of Indian Idol III seem to be more emotionally attached. So say Pooja and Abhishek. "We are always together and never fight or have differences in opinion."

Commenting on the judges, Abhishek says, "Their criticism helps us to improve our singing everyday. During my first audition, only two of the judges were impressed, but now, all say that they like my singing."

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