Performance Discussion 6 & 7 March - Page 4

Arunita has a level of pure artistic maturity that is ahead of most of her competitors in the Bollywood genre that finds an audience on Indian Idol. Her correctness and command over skills is bound to take her places if she gets the right breaks.

Anjali once again sang my fav song ever !! Aye Dil e nadal!! She is getting to sing the best songs!! (I wish those songs were given to arunita)

I liked Anjali for the first time this season. IDK maybe because both the songs are my fav song ever!! But hope she doesn't get eliminated next week

This forum hates Shanmukhpriya for no reason. Judges can be biased but there's absolutely no chance of every musician coming as guest judge on the show heaping praise on SMP and getting mindblown by her performance including Ajay-Atul yesterday. And I would anyday trust them who have musical knowledge than the normal audience.

SMP's biggest asset is her uniqueness. She may not be versatile but neither are most of the contestants in the show nor even normal known singers. Unlike dance it's not possible to be a versatile singer so easily. I close my eyes and listen to contestants, Arunita and Chitra reminds me of Shreya Ghoshal, Pawandeep reminds me of Mohit Chauhan, Nachiket reminds me of Sonu, etc but SMP never reminds me of a single popular singer and that's her speciality and talent and why she always stands out. The format of American Idol on which Indian Idol is based was never to find just a singer but a performer who can make the crowd go mad. And SMP has all the qualities which she proves every single week. May god bless her. Such talent and voice at the age of 18! 👏

Originally posted by: MommaDarling

This forum hates Shanmukhpriya for no reason. Judges can be biased but there's absolutely no chance of every musician coming as guest judge on the show heaping praise on SMP and getting mindblown by her performance including Ajay-Atul yesterday. And I would anyday trust them who have musical knowledge than the normal audience.

SMP's biggest asset is her uniqueness. She may not be versatile but neither are most of the contestants in the show nor even normal known singers. Unlike dance it's not possible to be a versatile singer so easily. I close my eyes and listen to contestants, Arunita and Chitra reminds me of Shreya Ghoshal, Pawandeep reminds me of Mohit Chauhan, Nachiket reminds me of Sonu, etc but SMP never reminds me of a single popular singer and that's her speciality and talent and why she always stands out. The format of American Idol on which Indian Idol is based was never to find just a singer but a performer who can make the crowd go mad. And SMP has all the qualities which she proves every single week. May god bless her. Such talent and voice at the age of 18! 👏

Fair enough. As I said before, liking SMP’s singing style is a matter of preference, be it for the judges, guests, and the audience. But don’t you think that the judges going on stage and asking for her blessings is too much? No matter how good of a singer a teenager might be, I don’t see how it could justify musicians with decades of experience bowing down to her.

Originally posted by: MommaDarling

This forum hates Shanmukhpriya for no reason. Judges can be biased but there's absolutely no chance of every musician coming as guest judge on the show heaping praise on SMP and getting mindblown by her performance including Ajay-Atul yesterday. And I would anyday trust them who have musical knowledge than the normal audience.

SMP's biggest asset is her uniqueness. She may not be versatile but neither are most of the contestants in the show nor even normal known singers. Unlike dance it's not possible to be a versatile singer so easily. I close my eyes and listen to contestants, Arunita and Chitra reminds me of Shreya Ghoshal, Pawandeep reminds me of Mohit Chauhan, Nachiket reminds me of Sonu, etc but SMP never reminds me of a single popular singer and that's her speciality and talent and why she always stands out. The format of American Idol on which Indian Idol is based was never to find just a singer but a performer who can make the crowd go mad. And SMP has all the qualities which she proves every single week. May god bless her. Such talent and voice at the age of 18! 👏

Most members criticize all contestants who don’t sing different styles of songs.
Yes, SMP has a unique voice, but that doesn’t mean you butcher all songs. We appreciate her uniqueness, but we don’t appreciate all her performances.

I quite liked her audition for Indian Idol, and I even started off enjoying yesterday’s performance, but then she overdid it.

If you’ve gone through comments, you must’ve read how Ajay Atul looked at Vishal during SMP’s performance.

If you think the judges aren’t given some lines to say, I’d say your mistaken. If the channel is hellbent on promoting someone the judges will too. Have you noticed how Pawandeep is always praised? Even though he’s not always phenomenal, also Ashish. Have you noticed Sireesha, Nachiket and Sayli are seldom praised, even though they perform well.
Check out Sonys social media pages and you’ll know just a handful of contestants are praised. The problem is SMP is being promoted by the channel a bit much, there’s no personal vendetta against her

Originally posted by: Aditii

Fair enough. As I said before, liking SMP’s singing style is a matter of preference, be it for the judges, guests, and the audience. But don’t you think that the judges going on stage and asking for her blessings is too much? No matter how good of a singer a teenager might be, I don’t see how it could justify musicians with decades of experience bowing down to her.

Even I don't like all this. I don't remember well but Anu Malik or Vishal did this with Neelanjana and in Season 11 Vishal did the same with Sunny. They can appreciate without this too.

Enjoyed the episode thoroughly. Hema Ji was looking so beautiful.

Nihal's first song very good but second one was not upto the mark.

Pawandeep performed well but nothing wow or extraordinary.

Sayli again rocked. Here expressions were just too good.

Arunita also as usual was brilliant especially Mere Naseeb Me song.

Anjali was impressive too. 2nd song was in her zone and she performed really well.

Overall I think girls are stronger than the boys.

Originally posted by: Aditii

Fair enough. As I said before, liking SMP’s singing style is a matter of preference, be it for the judges, guests, and the audience. But don’t you think that the judges going on stage and asking for her blessings is too much? No matter how good of a singer a teenager might be, I don’t see how it could justify musicians with decades of experience bowing down to her.

It's a standard Indian TV practice done in every reality show be it dance or singing show. Even Geeta Kapoor and Terrence used to do the same on India's Best Dancer. It's just an emotion to see someone excel at their craft. I would say it is the experience that these judges have that makes them do such things cuz maybe they know that particular contestant has hit the right notes in the performance.

Originally posted by: ~Raina~

Most members criticize all contestants who don’t sing different styles of songs.
Yes, SMP has a unique voice, but that doesn’t mean you butcher all songs. We appreciate her uniqueness, but we don’t appreciate all her performances.

I quite liked her audition for Indian Idol, and I even started off enjoying yesterday’s performance, but then she overdid it.

If you’ve gone through comments, you must’ve read how Ajay Atul looked at Vishal during SMP’s performance.

If you think the judges aren’t given some lines to say, I’d say your mistaken. If the channel is hellbent on promoting someone the judges will too. Have you noticed how Pawandeep is always praised? Even though he’s not always phenomenal, also Ashish. Have you noticed Sireesha, Nachiket and Sayli are seldom praised, even though they perform well.
Check out Sonys social media pages and you’ll know just a handful of contestants are praised. The problem is SMP is being promoted by the channel a bit much, there’s no personal vendetta against her

Just want to mention here that I by no means want to make my profession music, I am happy staying away from the industry and treating it like a hobby.

When it comes to SMP's style of singing there are certain major factors to it. Firstly her style is similar to that of Annie Lennox and Nina Simone. Is it unique? Yes. But is it worth all the hype? No.

As a born contralto myself I know the pains of hitting high notes. I however gradually moved to a mezzo-soprano range while still retaining my lower notes. It was a tedious and slow process, so as to not damage my vocal chords. But in SMP's case she was clearly a classical singer as a child and suddenly has developed a deep voice. My doubts are on overstraining her vocal chords...her mother must have pushed her too much and I do fear her damaging them.

We also forget that SMP is a singer in INDIA. Most of the demographic will enjoy a particular type of voice and style. But that does not mean she shouldn't experiment. SMP has gotten the hang of yodelling, hitting whisper notes and doing Western jugalbandi. But it will not be enjoyed by majority because our country's style of music is different. Sure we enjoy Western styles and music but at the end of the day we love our semi-classical songs.

I used to sing Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Whitney Houston, Beyonce, Ashley Tisdale as a child. As a teenager I would do Beyonce and JLo's entire dance routine with the singing. However I did realise that singing Western is a limitation in India. So what did I do? Focussed on Lataji, Ashaji, Alka Y, Poornima etc's voices and learned their song and styles. I still have a long way to go but hey its a start. This makes me versatile but I make sure not to butcher their songs by adding Western riffs and runs and unnecessary high notes. Why? Because it kills the essence of the song.

SMP is butchering all the versions she is doing and the judges are hyping her. And about versatility, even our most classical contemporary singers Shreya, Shreya and Sonu can sing both Hindi and English, Western and Indian without butchering it. Heres the proof:

Sonu from 3:03:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUkv8eTRrA0

Sunidhi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x4PwCFYF_U

There was a video of Shreya that I couldn't find. Hell even Armaan Malik has moved to USA. But none of them ruin the essence of the original style.

The rest of the contestants can also attempt this style of singing. Vibhor, Kunal and recently Ankush have also sung Western riffs. Its about practice.

At the end of the day it can be said, "Too many masalas in the food will ruin its taste." And thats what SMP does.