It's A S vs A S!. Review on Indian Idol

Simon Fuller of 19TV presented the concept to Fremantle Media president Allan Boyd. The ITV got hooked to it and decided to present this interesting concept to the British audience. The final episode of the original show was watched by 14 million English viewers who witnessed Will Young become the first Pop Idol. This unique concept soon caught the fancy of the South Africans, the US and now India. Fremantle Media is now developing localized versions for Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. The Indian show titled “Indian Idol” is being broadcast by Sony TV. The show is co-hosted by the debonair Aman Yatan Verma and the svelte Mini Mathur. Though they are not in my opinion the ideal choice. Credit must be given where due. Aman and Mini have done a reasonably good job.

THE JURY: The jury comprises three eminent people, all masters of their profession. The contestants are not only required to sing, they are required to perform on the stage which means that apart from singing they are required to be reasonable dancers as well and try to shake a leg to the rhythm and beat of the music. In short, they are expected to make the entire India sing along with them. So the essence is not in pure singing ability but in making others sing to their tunes. Whoever does that consistently well, will come out trumps and be crowned the Indian Idol sometime in February, 2005. I shall dwell on the jurors, a little bit, in no particular order:

Farah Khan: A successful choreographer, Farah Khan has been roped in to ascertain the overall presentation by the contestants. Since, the contestants are being tested in the audio-visual aspects of their singing; the contestants are expected to express the emotions that under lie in their songs through appropriate body and limb movements that go a long way in complementing their vocal chords. Farah’s role is to judge the packaging, so to say, rather than the product.

Anu Malik: A top of the line music composer whose job is to get the best out of a singer, Anu Malik’s critical comments mirror the performance of the contestants to such an extent that they may be termed rude. But, that’s Anu Malik for you. As a composer, he is expected to spot the spark in a singer. To look for a singer whose talent can be moulded to suit the requirements of a music director’s composition. His comments are, as usual, risqué but straight from the heart. A heart that paradoxically seeks to regale the audience present in the studio and the viewers across Asia as it does, at the same time, hurt the sentiments of many including the hapless contestants.

Sonu Nigam: A brilliant singer who knows the nuances of singing like none other. Very cool, composed and soft spoken. Sonu Nigam is less articulate when it comes to criticism but more verbose when he is happy with the performance of a contestant. Sonu Nigam concentrates more on the technical aspects of singing such as the pitch, tune, highs and lows, depth and tone and voice modulation. In a sense, he is the true judge to rate the contestants’ caliber in their singing abilities.

Television Viewers: The all powerful and all important main jury who either elect or reject a contestant purely on the basis of what they like and dislike. The viewers tend to take in the whole package rather than specifics in deciding to vote for the contestant. Unfortunately, the viewers have not been consistent in their voting pattern. I presume, the viewers are too independent and are not likely to take the cue from the jury in the studio. At least, that has been the case so far.

THE CONTESTANTS:

Rahul Vaidya: Another darling of the jury and audience, this boy has surprised many with his range and energy. He is handsome, expressive and is aware of his strengths. He is well versed in the art of singing and his confidence reflects through his singing. As he is very young, he can only get better and better. Whichever way you look he is the winner and that need not necessarily mean winning the coveted Indian Idol title. He has got precocious talent and has made many important people in the film industry sit up and take notice of him. He could be the next singing sensation. His weakness: likes to experiment more than what is necessary, goes a little overboard with his gestures.

Amit Sana: Great voice, remarkable style of singing. What he lacks in personality, he more than makes up for it in the way he sings. He could be a great playback singer, but I am not too sure he will succeed in front of the camera which is a prime requisite to be an Indian Idol, as such, I don’t consider him as my Indian Idol. If I were a music composer and was looking for fresh talent to lend voice to a young hero I would opt for Amit Sana without thinking twice. His weakness: Lacks screen presence, lacks killer looks, not very expressive while singing.

Abhijit Sawant: Another contestant with a good voice. Though not extraordinary, this boy could be the dark horse in the race. A rank outsider who could surprise everyone by winning the title. This boy is steady but not spectacular. You won’t find much variation in his performance every week whereas others performances could vary from the very good to bad. His eyes and smile express the message while he is singing. His weakness: Lack of variation in singing style, wrong choice of songs could be his undoing... Continued in the comments Section:

Update as on 20th February, 2005: Okay guys, one more favourite, Rahul Vaidya’s dream to become the Indian Idol is shattered as the fickle Indian audience plays truant and comes up with one more unpredictable result. It would be fair to say that all the three contestants, Abhijit Sawant, Amit Sana, and Rahul Vaidya performed exceedingly well, but in my opinion Rahul Vaidya lost narrowly because Amit Sana was able to garner a sizeable portion of the ‘sympathy votes’ because of his throat problem. Amit’s almost flawless performance sealed the fate of the more versatile Rahul Vaidya. Like I already mentioned, Abjhijit Sawant is riding a crest of popularity and seems to be presently untouchable. He has also peaked at the right moment and ‘Lady Luck’ seems to be smiling on him. Whichever way I look at it, he seems to be the ‘Destiny’s Child’. The one peculiar thing I have noticed is that both contestants who have made it to the grand finale carry the same initials – A S. Now, am I imagining things, or is there something more to a name after all. I am inclined to think it is a coincidence, but when we take into account thousands of contestants from all over the country who participated in the contest and also of the fact that at one stage Amit Sana had missed out and was out of contention until the judges used their discretion to bring him back into the contest, I am beginning to believe that there is more to it than mere talent alone If we take the first two letters of the two finalists, we get AbSa and AmSa. Now, that is very interesting. If we go by the rules of a dictionary, Abhijit Sawant’s name should come first, and that probably is revealing a lot. I mean among other things, even the alphabets seem to favour Abhijit Sawant. Will Amit Sana’s incredible, phoenix like, run take him just one step further to the most coveted title in recent years?