Votes decide Indian Idols - TOI article

Votes decide Indian Idols
2 Oct 2007, 0000 hrs IST,TUSHAR DUTT ,TNN



SMS voting has enabled audiences to select their favourite singer/dancer


Three years ago, SMS emerged as a great marketing tool (and a revenue-earner for service providers) for Indian reality television, especially with audiences worldwide being given the option to vote for their chosen one.

SMS voting has enabled audiences to select their favourite singer/dancer which can now change fortunes of nobodies and make them overnight pop celebs. But that's just one part of the story - of late promising singers have also been ousted from talent hunt/reality shows thanks to SMS votes which show a strong regionalistic bias.
Despite repeated appeals from celeb judges and anchors, an unprecedented regional bias is evident; talent, most feel, is eventually becoming a casualty in these shows. How else would you explain a peaceful small town in West Bengal turning into a battlefield, where violent mobs attacked a radio station for making derogatory comments about their local boy, Prashant Tamang, who's just won a reality show.

On another talent hunt, celebs judges have been sent abusive SMSes from a certain state for daring to criticise their local contestant! During yet another show, hoardings were put up across housing colonies in Mumbai, urging residents to vote for city boy Abhijeet Sawant, who eventually won the contest.

Regional voting took a new colour in Meghalaya when even militants urged people in the far-flung areas of the region to vote for their contestant, Amit Paul. For three weeks, Paul united the Khashi, Jaintia and Garo tribes of Meghalaya and the non-tribals, but lost out to Darjeeling's Tamang.

t's no secret that regional voting often makes deserving candidates lose. Even experts feel the same. Music director Lalit Pandit, who's judging a talent hunt show, feels, "It is sad when people show regional biases, while voting in a talent show. I remember in a popular talent hunt show last year, Debojit was announced the winner.

I heard he got a phenomenal number of votes from Assam and the more deserving candidate lost."
Singer Abhijeet Sawant says regional bias during SMS voting is evident, "There's a lot of emotional and regional involvement on talent shows. Last year, Karunya lost because he came from Hyderabad, where people hardly watch Hindi entertainment shows. People should vote for deserving candidates and forget which part of the country they come from."
The regional bias has increased so much that even the brains behind such shows accept it. Gajendra Singh, the mastermind behind many such talent shows, says, "It is bound to happen in a country like India. Regional bias is expected."

Okay, if that's true, then why do contestants appeal for votes in regional languages? "A sense of belonging drives the audience to vote according to state or religion. People like to be associated with stars/singers who can represent them.

They are looking for a mascot, an idol, who can make the community or state proud. In Prashant's case, the uproar came because the community wanted to show their concern towards the winner," explains consultant psychiatrist Avdesh Sharma.

So is there any solution? "Don't introduce voting at the first stage. If you involve the audience right from the beginning, then regional bias is bound to happen, as people will not get to know real talent. But if the audience is given the chance to vote only when a few deserving contestants are left, then the vote will go to the deserving candidate," suggests Ashish Kaul, executive vice president of a general entertainment channel.

"I think keeping a tab on SMSes might help. One person should vote only once from a particular number. This may help, as people will vote only for the deserving candidate," says Singh.
A performer can never be judged by a mere SMS, opines Rajeswari Sainath, a Bharatnatyam dancer from the city. She says, The panel of judges should be from all parts of country instead of only from Mumbai and Bollywood,"

Says Shringeri Sharma, a mass communication student," The lay audience can't judge the real talent of a singer. The singing prowess of the participant can only be evaluated by the judges. However, SMSes can contribute to a certain percentage, but judges who have more expertise in filtering a singer should be given more priority, she adds.


While these solutions sound logical, will they work in a country like India where even a Greg Chappell was booed by Sourav Ganguly fans in Kolkata for 'daring' to drop their hero?


Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Entertainment/TV_Buzz/Vot es_decide_Indian_Idols/articleshow/2420440.cms