Reflections and Analysis, July 7, 2007

Let me start with what seems already to be the most controversial part of yesterday's program. Was Alka right? I absolutely think so.

Priyani failed to hit the right notes more than once and about one-thirds of the way into her performance, if you observe carefully, she was consistently a fraction of a beat behind the orchestra. At this level, with these pretensions (to being the potential Voice of India), this is inexcusable. Alka was absolutely right, and I despair of the judgment of the others. These are not small flaws.

It is not fair to Priyani because she will think that she is excellent and Alka is being petty (just as many members of this Forum seem to), when in fact, she needs to close her eyes and listen with headphones to this performance, dispassionately. If the male judges (and I use this qualifier sadly, hesitantly but carefully) cannot give her the correct commentary, she is doomed to find out the hard way and then lose confidence in her singing once and for all. This would be a pity because for all my criticism, she is eminently teachable.

Irfan, incidentally, is a great example of what can happen if people are given good constructive comments and they take them seriously. His singing has improved steadily.

Laya was also a problem with Irfan, who speeded through his song just enough that it lost some of its rasa. His performance was a marvelous illustration of how the mood of a song can be changed with a marginal change of its pace (gati?). Where was the thehraav and patience of his Guru song performance?

Abhaas showed just that patience in his performance. Giving each word, each line the time and attention it needed to flower fully, he earned what I think was Alka's first 10.

Mirande is clearly competent. Her style and choice of song still don't appeal to me. They are similar to Sumitra's but I find her singing more appealing, I think because while Sumitra too needs to work on her modulation, Mirande is a little further behind on that journey.

I though Adesh was spot-on with Arshpreet. The serenity (sukoon) in her performance was lovely, but it did not detract from expression at all. This girl deserves to be in the final 5 or 6. Much more than Mirande and Priyani.

Shriram and Ravi deserved to leave. I did not hear Ravi in the audition round, and so I cannot judge beyond these two performances, but Shriram's performance was just not upto snuff. I think he can sing well, but he needs to go back and work on his singing, his Hindi (to be able to be confident about lyrics on this kind of stage) and his confidence.

I think that the judges are having the same problems as we are with this format. What is the meaning of selecting five from this group? What will they do down the line?

I am beginning to think that the whole Alka leaving thing is a red herring. She must have recorded all these episodes before going and no doubt will be back in time for the next phase. The PR team of this show should have confidence in the calibre of the contestants; we watch because they sing so beautifully and not out of any interest in the judges.

Wat a wonderful episode 👏👏👏 It was clearly the girls' day yesterday... All the girls performed well whereas the boyz seemed off yesterday - except Abhaas...

Priyani - I love the song she sang 😊 And I felt she did pretty well with it... I dont know about the minute details that Alka was referring to... But in general I felt it was extremely well sung 👏

Abhaas - he was good, but not as much as his omkara performance... But still - he deserved the selection...

Ashpreet's song selection again was great 😛 Just yesterday we were saying she shud not get stuck with one kind of songs... And this was a pleasant change...

Mirande - I like her... There is lil to choose between these three girls - who are all extremely talented and really good with their songs... She was great yesterday and I couldnt see any flaw with her 😛 Aadesh pointed out some things she cud have done better at the beginning... To me it was fine...

Irfan - I did not like his singing at all I was a lil surprised with the judges comments on him... Abhijeet giving 10 😕😕 That was totally baffling... I thought he sang flat...

Ravi - I have never liked his singing too much right from the auditions... He always got great comments from judges... But his performance never matched up... He had to go...

Sreeram - this was very disappointing He has a great voice... I would have liked to see him in the bemisaal 12... But if we compare yesterday's performances, I think he had to go - he was not good yesterday...

It was just the right decision to keep 5 contestants in place of 3... It wud have been the show's loss had any of these been left out... I am sure, these contestants will add value and credibilty to the show with their gifted voices and talent 👏👏👏

I think Shreeram has the same problem as Amitabh. He can sing well, but it is not enough. There has to be the drive to improve all the time that we have seen in Abhrokanti in the last season and many of the other Little Champs, and that Irfan has shown as well. Both Shreeram and Amitabh seem to have coasted on a considerable but unpolished talent and not figured out the key to honing it to consistency and other things that each needs.

first let me say that i am very proud of this show 👏.it has met my expectations..nothing is perfect ..but there are lots of possibilities..
i think i am going to have wonderful weekends for next few months. weekdays will be spent waiting.

i dont mind the fights and arguments at all about contestants..i wait for those momentswhen judges correct the students..when abhijeet or jatin or alka actually sing the notes to correct them..i enjoy it when shaan like a proud parent asks every single judge to give comments on abhaas ..their aashirvaad and abhaas smile makes me so happy..

i dont mind kids singing badly..they are learning after all..but judges dancing and applauding poor performances is an insult to the sensibilities of us audiences(visiting guests sorry if i have offended you!)

the singers who are eliminated like shayantani,sanchari,amithabh,sriram,aditi,dipin..they are singers of merit..some have wonderful voices,others are well trained..

last night abhaas,ashpreet were my top 2 followed closely by mirande..priyani and irfan too definitly make the cut.well deserved place in the team

First, thanks for the analysis once again.

Regarding Priyani, maybe it had to do with the song choice, but I personally liked her performance. It worked for me, I feel she sang well. Yes, it wasn't perfect and even the judges who gave her high points pointed it out. I really did not notice that she was a fraction behind the orchestra one third of her way into the song.You make a valid point when you say Priyani will think she is excellent and Alka is being picky about minute details. When she pointed out the shortcomings in Sumitra's performance and voice modulation, many agreed so I don't think its a case of Alka is always wrong and the other (male) judges are right. Last week, Abhijeet went overboard with the argument on Vipul's age and voice.

I felt the Priyani's performance was worthy of more than a six. Same for Arshpreet's meethi baatein song yesterday.

Ravi and Shreeram deserved to leave. Actually, Ravi should have left yesterday.

My top stars for today were Abhas, Arshpreet and Priyani. I also liked Mirande and she has potential but like you pointed out yesterday, I feel she could bring more expression into her singing.

I hope Alka comes back and the articles about her leaving are just hype and extra "promotion" for the show. Its hard to imagine the show without her (even we people who don't always agree with her comments) Plus, the judges panel needs a female judge who gives concrete comments versus 'you rock', 'you were too good', 'I hate you!'

I agree with Ankita that sometimes the course correction and the hints are the best part of the show. I have no personal campaign against poor little Priyani, but she should also have the benefit of such teaching. People go on about what a wonderful stage this is, but what is truly wonderful is the mentoring it facilitates.

I think that the question of a six or eight is a function of grade inflation. Are all the 9s really 9? If they are not (and I would argue so), then we can put 6 in perspective. It says you are good, but I know you can be better. It is not 4 which says, okay, you are terrible but we have to be kind.

Oh how much I missed writing here for the last some days... but am back now 😳

And back to write on an awesome week for SVOI.. What a contest - just gr8 😃

I would agree totally with Vanaja - Priyani, yes she has a melodious voice, but did she sing to deserve a 10 and a 9 - No! Yes, we can argue that she did not deserve a 6 as well, when other easier attempts have got 7s and 8s.. But why would some get a higher score for attempting a tough song imperfectly... Priyani has a nice voice, but on this song - she did miss her sur at numerous occassions, the beauty of the song was almost lost... she was also not close to Sanchita anywhere in her rendition of 'Kabhi neem neem' on Friday... Glad that Mirande and Arshpreet made it to the next round, but if that would not have happened - I would have really regretted the very high 9s and 10s for Priyani from the other judges...

Arshpreet - I just love the voice that this girl has.. 'Justjoo' would be the last song, I could think she would attempt.. and oh my god - she did it so beautifully... A very different and a very refreshing voice.... I am looking fwd to listen to 'Lambi Judai', and 'Ab jo kiye ho daata' from her.. I think she will be great on those songs...

Mirande - I just loved her Saturday performance, though cant say the same for Friday.. Khatoooba, I think is a very tough song.. dont remember anyone attempting that in a contest.. and she showed that you can sing an Arabic touch song perfectly maintaining the sur and the zing at the same time... I personally am realising that she seems to have a better grip than Sumitra on her basics, as the genre of singing is similar for both the girls...

Abhaas - Should I repeat that he indeed is the wonder-kid... While Omkara was rocking, Staurday just showed his level of maturity... Its always tough to maintain the pace and the mood of a Rafi song... and he was so awesome..... I think, this boy is a bundle of talent, and is sure to make a mark one day....

Irfan - I think this guy has learnt his lessons well from the last talent shows and I see a lot of improvement from him... His 'Guru' was perfect... but on 'Aye zindagi' - he was a bit too fast.. that sukoon of the song was missing... But the song suited him a lot.. I think if he could have maintained the pace of the song well without hurrying, it would have been very very close to a perfect 10

Shreeram - He needed to go... I have a few things to say here... They said that he has already sung in Telegu movies, why then is he allowed to participate here? Secondly, yes its not a memory competition, but even on forgetting the lyrics, almost no penalization other than Alka? Are we sending a right message that way? Then all the contestants will be tempted to sing 4 lines of the song perfect and not care about the rest!

Ravi and Neeta were the weakest links of the show and had to go... never liked either of them anyways... But, I thought that Ravi came across as a very genuine guy.. and did anyone notice the similarity he has with Sonu while singing?

Overall - a great week.. Correct decisions and great 5 selections... I am still wondering that now that it wont be 'bemisaal barah' anymore, what would be the final line-up? I am really selfish in wishing now, why cant Sanchari and Sayantani get another chance in that case? I would just have no complaints anymore in that case....

Indeed, if it is not going to be 'Bemisaal Barah' anyway, why not bring the other really strong but unlucky contestants back?

Originally posted by: vanajaakshi

Indeed, if it is not going to be 'Bemisaal Barah' anyway, why not bring the other really strong but unlucky contestants back?

I so much agree... just hoping that they do have a wild card kind of round, and get back Sanchari and Sayantani 😳

Thanks to my husband, I think I'm gonna end up watching SVOI always now. Now that SRGMP is online in UAE and at the same time as SVOI, we both had a big fight last friday as to which show to watch. Finally, I had to give in, being the good wife 😭 😭 Not that I do not like SVOI, but I hate the judges on this show.

Coming to analysis, I loved abhaas performance on both days. I remember him from the old SRGMP days when he had beaten abhrokanthi in the finals to win the junior title.

I too did not like Priyani much yesterday and felt Alka was right with her comments, but have to admit that she has improved a lot from challenge 05 days when she was in Himesh gharana.

Irfan was good on the first day, but not equally good on the second. Ashpreet & Mirande were good on both days. I'm glad that 5 singers got selected yesterday, else some deserving singers would have been out.