I must say I enjoyed yesterday's episode and that had to do at least as much with the celebrity guests, both of whom have a self-effacing but positive presence in such a setting. It was nice to hear songs that are not sung in every third episode.
Ishmeet's sur is getting shaky. But he did not get a great musical composition to sing, either, more's the pity. Can you think of better Anil Kapoor songs that he could have sung? What I will say for Ishmeet is that he has really performed a range of very different songs in the last few weeks. His grade: B
Abhaas and Abhilasha were excellent. They are usually technically flawless, but Abhaas must take care that dancing does not shake his sur. They brought a rare charm and sweetness to their performance and would have made a very charming EMET pair, I think! This grade is a no-brainer: A+
Toshi and Mirande. Here's some truth-in-advertising, a confession that must precede this analysis: Toshi really irritates me. He comes across to me as very self-absorbed and very smug, a quality that prevents his improving very far beyond his present level of competence. The result is that he never impresses me: he sings the same kind of song, has the same little semi-classical interludes in all of them, and as Ramta Jogi showed, is a very selfish performer.
Mirande had the plainer part of the song to sing (which she did eminently well and with grace), got left standing in a corner while he did his little theatrical thing with Anil Kapoor. And then did he say something about not having parents? In all honesty, I cannot give Toshi a grade and say it is about his performance, so I will grade Mirande alone: A.
Prantik and Priyani appear now to be the weak links in the competition although Irfan seems to have decided to give them a run for their money. Prantik wandered away from sur several times, and Priyani sounded metallic with a few almost-hit notes although she stayed within the scale. My grade for them: C+
Sumitra finally sang something different, but here too, she chose a song with two voices. I grant she does them both excellently, but soon she will be marketing herself as "two for the price of one" and most songs are not written like that. She missed a note in just one place, as I recall. I want to say that her performances are bordering on theatrics. Perhaps this is her actual personality, but yesterday's entire Anil Kapoor interaction had a very 'maska polish' quality to it. Unnecessary with her calibre. She has to get an A because she is really very good.
I am going to grade Arshpreet and Irfan separately. Arshpreet was fantastic. Her voice sounded great, she was technically flawless and she can really perform without any detriment to singing. A+
Irfan is just a man in a tearing hurry and for two performances now, has consistently started before the beat on almost every line in his song. Sur is also a little hit and miss. I feel bad about this because he can sing very well if he slows down as the Guru performance shows. C
Harshid and Prantika had yet another silly song to sing and brought an unexpected dignity to it. A little more life could have helped but their sur and taal were perfect. B+ to them, I would have given them an A, but I never find either of them that compelling. So shall I make it a B++?
The team selection process was silly but I would have found some way to criticise it no matter how they did it, I guess. I am surprised that Abhijeet did not pick Abhaas when he had a choice. And I want to see Alka's face when she learns that she has to train Priyani, but I think as the IF discussions have predicted, they will bond in an predictable, unpredictable twist. As things stand, the Aadesh-Lalit team seems stronger, with better male and female singers.
A good episode on the whole in terms of singing quality. I started voting yesterday with voting for Abhaas and Abhilasha. I voted for Abhaas a lot as Toshi sang. Then I just did not have enough steam to continue or I would have voted for Sumitra and Arshpreet.
Anupamaa
Indian Idol 15
