Articles/ Updates/ Positive Comments - Page 498

Originally posted by: me&my2cents

was busy - work, party, training, party, diwali, party, guests, party...

phew... lots of parties there😆

how u've been?

oh.. too much parties....👏

Originally posted by: diksha_16

thanks di 😛

welcome dear...😃

Originally posted by: me&my2cents

i saw the last monday's episode here in the us - people were talking about anubhav trying to be a cool dude, well why is not anyone talking about mona trying to put extra make up. man aisa lag raha tha ki aate ke dabbe me muh daal kar aayi hain... itna transformation to fair and lovely waale bhi apni ad me nahin dikhate honge.. and she did not look comfortable in her dress as well, par lagta hain ki usko pehanna pada hoga....

waise otherwise she was the prettiest girl in all those 10 bye 10...or whatever that is... followed by aditi...

hey all girls r pretty.. arps is the prettiest of all ....n prajakta too..... aditi is n mona too...😊

I agree with Sakshi...
Arpita is the prettiest..
then Mona
Prajkta
and Aditi...

Mona has very cute smile....

Indian Idol Has Copied Us: Gajendra Singh

Subhash K Jha
"Qazi Tauqeer Is Hardly A Singer… Indian Idol & Fame Gurukul Has Copied Us!" Producer Of 'Sa Re Ga Ma Challenge' Gajendra Singh Takes On The Sony Challenge.

WhenSalman Khan made a guest appearance on Sa Re Ga Ma Challenge he was so bowled over by the quality of singing that he stayed on till 4 in morning after finishing the recording at midnight to hear the contestants.

"When someone of Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia's caliber says he can't choose the best among the contestants since they're all so good, I feel my life is made," sighs the man behind the epoch-making music contest.

He has been around. Yup, Gajendra Singh is the original music man on Indian television. His two musical shows Closeup Antakshari and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa have defined and re-invented the Indian music contest on television.

And now with the perennially-popular Sa Re Ga Ma Pa being re-vamped into the massively aggressive Sa Re Ga Ma Challenge, Singh can sing another tune.

Media-shy Gajendra Singh welcomes the show's new wave of popularity. "When we decided to revamp Sa Re Ga Ma Pa into its new format we had one basic target in mind. The contestants should have direct access to the composers so that their ultimate destination—film singing—would be apparent to these hopefuls from the time they enter our contest. That's why we got a whole range and spectrum of composers from the classically inclined Ismail Durbar to the beat-oriented Himesh Reshammiya to the melody-motivated Jatin-Lalit and the all-rounder Aadesh Shrivastava –to serve as judges. I'm happy and proud to say these judges have taken the talented contestants under their wings and groomed them into a kind of stardom even before they pass through the winning post. One of our finalists Vineet has sung all the songs for Zayed Khan under the supervision of Himesh Reshammiya for a film Rocky."

The threat from Sony's twin contests Fame Gurukul and Indian Idol looms large over Sa Re Ga Ma. But Gajendra isn't the least initimidated.

"I feel they on Sony have copied us. But their focus isn't on singing. It's on face value. I've been doing a musical talent scouting contest since 1994. I virtually grew with my channel Zee. You'd be shocked to know what kind of money I'm offered by rival channels to join them. But I feel abandoning Sa Re Ga Ma would be like orphaning my own baby."

He dismisses Sony's twin tune shows.

"Indian Idol is all about marketing and glamour. I can't see Qazi or any of the other winners on Fame Gurkul acquiring the durable fame of our contestants like Shreya Ghosal, Kunal Ganjawala and Shaan. Their star-contestants like Rahul Vaidya and Prajakta were on Sa Re Ga Ma first. Maybe they were lured into the other shows by the prize money and the promise of recordings. Well, let me tell you our 12 Sa Re Ga Ma Challenge finalists have already been signed for an album by Sa Re Ga Ma HMV. Besides they're being absorbed by the judges who are in a position to give them breaks. I've more than 10 years of experience in this field. I can recognize talent in budding singers. I'd like to feel our show gives them a chance to really come into their own."

A lot of watchers feel Sa Re Ga Ma Challenge focuses too much on the bickering and coochie-cooing of the star-judges.

"That's going to change as the show reaches its grand finale," promises Gajendra Singh. "Now the focus is going to be on the singers."

The anchor Shaan will remain unchanged, though.

"Why should he want to leave, and why should we? Shaan is so endearing. He's been with us for four years. And look how he took over from Sonu Nigam who people said was irreplaceable."

In about three months, Gajendra Singh also returns with Zee's other TRP-booster Closeup Antakshari.

"I can promise you it'll be bigger and brighter than before."

Hi Sakshi and everybody Good morning !!!

R U Game?

Saumit Singh
DNA
Monday, November 14, 2005 20:09 IST

Last year when Indian Idol made its debut on Sony, it asked viewers to do what no Indian show had asked them to do before - vote for their favourite candidate via an SMS. While this interactive element was an essential part of the original 'American Idol' format it copied, the head honchos at Sony had initially seen it as just a barometer of public response. It also marked the first serious entry of the ubiquitous short messaging text as the explosive new revenue source for TV.

Star had been the first to use the SMS as an entry tool into KBC, but back then, its basic commercial use was more or less restricted to news channels, which started using the medium to run daily polls and send out news alerts. But when Abhijeet Sawant emerged from a deluge of 55 million messages to become TV's very first popularly elected singing celebrity almost overnight, the message struck home — SMS-based shows were a goldmine. Sony launched a similarly formatted Fame Gurukul and garnered another 50 million messages.

"Yes, SMS has become a very crucial component, but at this stage, I don't believe the volumes are large enough to generate revenues that pay for the program. But there is a play-along element," agrees a cautious Tarun Katiyal, business head, Sony TV, but refuses to give out how much money it made for the channel.

But that's nothing a simple calculation won't reveal: At a conservative average of Rs 3 per SMS, the total revenue comes to over Rs 30 crore for just these two shows! For KBC, each SMS costs Rs 6! But the way this money is distributed by mobile operators has become a bone of contention, especially with companies like Cellcast, a UK-based firm which is the format provider for the game show Houzee on Zee.

"The revenue share which exists today really points to the greediness of the operator. They are only willing to give us a 25 percent share, which comes to around 65 paise after tax," explains Pankaj Thakar, CEO, South Asia, Cellcast, which runs several game show channels almost entirely based on SMS-generated revenue. This share is further split between the technology provider, broadcaster and format owner, who could be three different people.

Operators aren't at all keen to share figures but agree that convergence of TV with mobile SMS and voice is where the future is at. Airtel has now innovated with 'voice auditions' for 'Indian Idol part 2', which cost Rs 6 per minute. "We can't give out exact figures but the share depends on the agreement between the service provider and broadcaster. Airtel was the exclusive partner for KBC and that deal was different from a poll run through several operators," says Senjam Raj Sekhar, Corporate Communications, Bharti Tele-ventures.

Zee, which is launching Kam ya Zyada, its biggest ever interactive game-show in December with Manoj Bajpai as the anchor, isn't coy about admitting the tremendous potential. "We perceive the convergence between SMS and television as the primary source of revenue in the long run. We are making an effort to fully explore the possibilities," says Neil Chakravarti, senior VP (convergence), Zee.

As channels eye a bigger share in the suddenly lucrative 'interactive' game-show market, even radio is now claiming a sizeable piece of the pie. Did you say Superb Moneymaking Service?

good articles. thanks for sharing! 👏

hey abhijeet will b giving his perf.... 😃

16th Nov 2005

Performance by Top three

Three of them had a nite out in the Mumbai city.. video game, to hotels…

Performance by Deepal…she gave perf on dheer dheere .. frm Kalyug (yet to b released)

They gave performance on Aaaja mahi vey

Then Arijit asked to give him envelop coz to declare who is in safe zone….. So, it was Arijit who was in Safe zone.

Abhijeet as a special guest… he gave performance on Mohabaat Lautunga..

After many discussion .. they declared tht shamit baazi maar gaye hai n mona baazi haar gayi hai…

So, top 2 are

Arijit
Shamit

thts all 4 d day!!