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| Whose show is it anyway? | ||
| Chaya Unnikrishnan n recent weeks different celebrities have being roped into the musical talent shows, who besides boosting the viewership are using the platform to promote their forthcoming releases. Govinda was on Indian Idol, Salman Khan - Lara Dutta on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Anil Kapoor-Akshaye Khanna on Star Voice of India. Govinda's episode garnered 5.4 TRPs, the Salman special got 8.4 making it the highest so far this season and Anil Kapoor- Akshaye Khanna brought in a rating of 4. On an average, the TRPs of all the three are quite close with Sa Re Ga Ma Pa at 5.5 making it the top-rated show on Zee, Indian Idol at 4.5 as the numero uno on Sony and Star Voice at 3.9 on Star Plus, which is driven by soaps . It is evident from the ratings that Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is leading and Indian Idol is a close second, while Star Voice of India is third. However, Nikhil Alva executive producer of Indian Idol points out that Sa Re Ga Ma Pa has already peaked two weeks ago with a 8 + rating and since then has gone down to over 5 and remained stagnant. "I don't think there's any chance of it going up now, whereas Indian Idol has been steadily climbing the charts.We are on the right track and I am sure the ratings will peak during the finale which is important," says Nikhil confidently. As for Star Voice Of India, producer-director Gajendra Singh feels that despite being a new show, there is enough buzz and respect for the show. "The ratings of all the three shows are marginally different and whenever there are celebrities on the show, that particular episode peaks," shrugs Gajendra. While it's true that all the three are hunting for musical talent, there's a world of difference in their approach.For Zee's Executive Vice-President, Ashish Kaul, it is strictly about scouting for a top quality singer. "Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal and Kunal Gunjawala were noticed through Sa Re Ga Ma Pa," he declares and at the same time points out that Indian Idol is not identifying talent, "It is about finding personalities and singing is only one part of it." Alva retorts that they are looking for a complete performer who can not only sing but even hold his own on stage. "We are the only ones who are discovering genuinely raw/new talent while the others are giving you professional singers and passing them off as new," he alleges. However, both Ashish and Gajendra dismiss the statement. Says Gajendra, "Contestants like Abhilasha and Abhaas are just 17 years old and have never sung on stage. Sumitra Iyer is working in an IT company, so there is no question of their being professional singers." There have been speculations that some singers of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa like Abhijeet Kosambi who was eliminated last week was already a singer in his own right before coming on the show. He has given some TV performances also. For that matter, two contestants from Indian Idol 2, Amey Date (Desh Devi in 2002 and some Marathi films) and Meenal Jain (Sehar and Kal, both 2005) had also done playback singing before being a part of the shows. Whatever be their differences, one thing that bounds all the shows is the drama that has taken centrestage. Be it Poonam in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa talking about her lower middle class background and how she went hungry for three days, or Ishmeet in Star Voice Of India breaking down and singing on his mother's advice despite being recommended rest by the doctor. Besides playing on the sympathies of the people whose votes can make or break their success graph, the emotional drama helps in boosting TRPs. It was Indian Idol that started the trend of televising auditions and giving backgrounds of the contestants. This gave the viewer to having an instant connect to the contestant which helped in garnering votes. Later, this format was adapted by Sa Re Ga Ma Pa which also turned interactive. Ashish Kaul begs to differ, "We have been conducting auditions for years now, only we didn't televise them. " So, why have they started it now? "The industry is evolving, technique is evolving and there is a need to have variation. If Sholay is being remade, won't it be done differently? We have been on air for 13 years and while music is the forte we have always been innovating the format. Even the viewer profile keeps changing. New generations tune into the show and even those who have been following it expect something new," reasons Ashish. He, however reiterates that the innovations in the format revolve around the basic concept of finding a top-notch playback singer. "While our singers go on to make careers in the music industry, those from Indian Idol last only as long as the show is on air and "have no career beyond that." That, however, is not completely true. The fact is that the Indian Idol finalists and winners, be it Abhijeet Sawant, Meenal Jain, Rahul Vaidya or Karunya, have released their own albums. While Abhijeet's first album Aap Ka Abhijeet was a huge hit, his second one Junoon has just released. Other contestants like Prajakta Shukre and Amit Sana have recorded some songs for composers like Anu Malik but haven't managed to succeed as playback singers. "Why do you think that if you are not a playback singer, you are not good? Our singers have tremendous stage presence and most of them are busy doing shows," retorts Nikhil. He reasons that ultimately all the three talent-hunts are TV shows and what is important is providing wholesome entertainment to the viewers "which Indian Idol does...".The argument about which show is good, whose singers are better and who emerges the winner can go on and on...But as Sandiip Sikcand (when he was with Sony) had pointed out, the positive thing is that the country is getting some good singing talent and that's what matters. source:screenindia P.S.this guy is quoting sunidhi chauhan's name for the second time..show aapka hai tho if not the first time,atleast the next time get your facts right😡 |
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