Indian Idol 3 has just started. Your feelings…
This show was my launching ground. I will always be attached to it. I hope the contestants do well and the show becomes popular. If my schedule permits, I will surely watch the episodes.
There is always a viewers fatigue when a single model of the show is repeated again and again. Do you think Indian Idol 3 will generate the same craze that Indian Idol 1 did?
It is true that repeating the success of the first show is always tough. KBC 1 was more popular than the next series. Similarly for Indian Idol, to repeat the magic of its first episode may not be possible. But with new faces among the judges I believe the enthusiasm of the audience will be maintained. However, the craze of the show will also depend upon the quality of the contestants and their performances.
How is it like to be on the sets of Indian Idol?
It's like having all the earth's pressure on you, mentally. You face different situations everyday with new gossips doing the rounds and with new names discussed for elimination. But other than that it's a place where I have made strong bonds of friendship, it's a place where I have enjoyed the love and support of millions and have won the title.
You have been there and done that. Now, looking back, what really was your success mantra?
You mean apart from hard work? Well winning a show such as this depends a lot on your presence of mind. The song you choose has an important role to play whether you survive in the next round or not.
How has life been as the first Indian Idol?
In a normal scenario, everyone struggles his / her way to the top. But as an Indian Idol you suddenly find yourself on a different platform along with the celebrities. Life changes so rapidly that you are kept struggling to cope up with this new environment. Yes, you are saved of the initial struggle, but then to adapt yourself with the celebrity status is not an easy job.
Minus Indian Idol, how would life have been?
As I said, in normal scenario, every person struggles at first to reach the peak. So perhaps I would have been struggling too.
SMS based talent choosing has always been in the centre of controversy. You consider yourself luckier or more talented than others?
No hiding the fact that it was luck factor that helped me. I was luckier than the others. But even then, I fail to understand the hue and cry over the sms based voting. Today Rahul Vaidya, Amit Sana and many others have their own fan club. Everyone has recognition. Before Indian Idol, there were talent hunt shows like Sa Re Ga Ma, but except the hosts of the show, none of the contestants got any recognition. Whoever performed on those shows had to struggle on their own to make their career. I strongly believe that it is the sms voting that connected the Indian Idol finalists more with the audience and gave them a stronger identity than anyone else.
Would you like to share your formula of success with the contestants of Indian Idol 3 or you'd rather keep it to yourself?
There is no formula as such. But I would like to advise the contestants to be careful about the songs they pick. As singers our choices may be different, but on a platform like Indian Idol where at the end of every episode you survive on the basis of public vote, you have to keep in mind the choice of the public. Apart from that just don't let the pressure of celebrity judges, sms polling, public opinions etc. get to you.
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