Musical Reality Shows this week - Critical Analysis

The last weekend of 2007 presented us with a very enjoyable variety of music and melody. The shows were full of fun and frolic with a usual dose of emotion, social messages and some brilliant performances especially from the L’il Ustaads. Having said that, there was one thing that was very conspicuous in all the four shows - there were contradictions galore in most of the shows.

In SRGMP-L’il Champs, performance wise the L’il Champs outperformed one another. The tribute paid to Sonu Nigam was also one of the highlights of the week which left not just Sonu, but even his fans quite overwhelmed. The shocker of the week was to find Amir, one of the most talented participants in bottom 3! Smita Nandi’s reasoning to cover up her “good, but not so outstanding” performance by blaming her tonsils was a rather lame excuse and was rightly chastised by Sonu. But Sonu contradicted the very reasons he gave Smita about gaining public sympathy! His emotional support of Amir Hafeez, on Friday and Saturday inadvertently made Sonu attract public attention for reasons that are totally unrelated to music! On Friday, he brought to public attention Amir’s family background and on Saturday, he highlighted Amir’s illiteracy – two irrelevant points. If that is not publicizing private life and trying to gain public sympathy, then what else is??

In SVOI Chhote Ustaad, all the performances were outstanding. However, the comments made by the judges made least sense. These judges often say that there are a few errors which they would overlook and more often than not, end up giving the highest grade too! Now, if there are errors, how can they be overlooked or more importantly, how is it that the same participant can get the highest grade? Aren’t they contradicting themselves? As a judge, it is their duty to pinpoint the mistakes so that the participants know exactly where they went wrong and correct themselves. Abhaas as host at times looks quite lost and it’s high time he cuts down on expressionlessly shouting a few standard lines.

This week Mission Ustaad spread the message for "Upliftment of Women". All the four Jodi's gave brilliant performances with inspiring messages and incidents from their personal life to the world. Though the message was inspiring, their songs were not. It has been pointed out by the judges many times that the songs chosen must fit the subject. But seems the Jodi's are lacking the knowledge of songs available in our music industry, or is it that they are choosing songs that are popular so they can attract the audience for votes? It is now high time A.R. Rahman gives out his views on the songs performed. If only one judge speaks out and the others do not express their views, then how can the audience give the correct results?

K for Kishore is turning a disappointment for the viewers. The performances were really mediocre again this week. Even the amateur L’il Ustaads of Zee and VOI sing more in sur than what was showcased by these seasoned singers!! The only show stealer has been the not known anecdotes shared by Amit Kumar on Kishore Kumar.

The shows will have to rise above mediocrity or cheap publicity stunts. Each of them comes with a mission. To gain public sympathy or to raise the TRP’s the shows should not dilute the objectivities of their individual shows by contradicting the very objective.

Author: Barnali

Note: The views expressed are solely of the author. For any information, please contact the author.