What stands out for me when I watch this year's contestants of Indian Idol is the confidence. It is a relatively young bunch when compares to the previous years. The contestants are cool, they aren't apologetic about the fact that they are ambitious as well as very aware of their capabilities; and they seem to be determined to make it big inspite of or despite the II platform- it is not like the end for them to be on the II stage. It is just another opportunity to showcase their talent.
Now for yesterday's piano round without the piano- it was like a lot of stars shining together merrily in the night sky. There was not outstanding super star that outshone the rest…but it was just bright, happy stars shining in its own unique, joyful way. A lot of versatility was seen and the contestants this year are braver in choosing their songs. I just loved all the songs that the contestants had chosen.
In the retrospect, if you really had to classify the group I would divide it loosely into the 'Sheher ki choris' and the "Gaon ki Goris"- though the group could have a couple of outliers and sitting on the fence types. The former consists of this hip, husky voiced, confident in their dressing style and the 'I love to sing item numbers' gals.
Let's look at how they did…
1) Rashmi from UAE: sang pyaar ki ek kahani' from HTPL..very powerful voice but sung it too casually…somehow the overall impact could not be created because of lack of control
2) Vanita from UAE- 'Ishq kabhi kariyo Na' – husky, sexy voice, more confident, more control…but there is a possibility that she may not be able to carry soft romantic numbers…
3) Pinky from Mumbai : "Mahi ve"- this song has been sung by so many clones of Richa Sharma in so many singing competitions that it has lost the charm for me. She was in sur, voice quite suited the song…but like Simon Cowell would say very forgettable…maybe she was missing Annu
4) Harshida from London : ( Is she really Paresh's sis??) : sang 'Chalein jaise hawaein…' Only gal who had problem with sur y'day. She sounded very flat. But she looks good and sounds sincere…However one of the weakest performance
5) Ankita Mishra from Kanpur: sang Aayi re aayi re khushi. Shouldn't she be singing today as the boys are supposed to be performing today??? Powerful voice. Great stage presence. Not surprising considering she is part of a rock band in the school. But she shouldn't go overboard with the dancing, jumping part. Her voice has the tendency to go off sur so she should be careful in her choice of song
And the Gaon ki Goris:
They are the simple girls next door. Look more sincere and serious about their singing. They would be the ones who would provide us with the tears in the subsequent round. But they are giving a great takkar to the sheher waalis
1) Aisha Sayed from Mumbai: Sang " Name ash ka" A very unique husky voice. She is one of the fence sitters who could migrate to the sheher waalis group easily as her husky voice is really suitable for the 'itemsque' kinda of songs. But her personality keeps her in the gaon slot for now. She was a little nervous which is understandable as she was the first to sing. Falters here and there but really a voice to watch out for this season
2) Shifa Ansari from MP: Sang ' Kahe ched ched". She is only sixteen but very very well trained. She has to lose that baby pitch in her voice and she could very well replace Shreya Ghoshal.
3) Smita Adhikari from Kolkota: She has a well trained mature voice but the downside is that there is nothing very unique about it. I have a feeling that she is trying too hard. She should try to relax. Sing songs which play upon her strength of a classical background. She seems to have broken into a bad bout of acne…maybe its the stress
4) Deepali from Patna: Sang "tere bi nahi jina mar jaana dholna' …and I am biased towards her as it is one of my all time favorites! She sang very well and like the judges mentioned it is a tough one to sing…u need a good range to sing it well.
5) Vartika: Sang "Bhage re man" . Judges praised her too much. I personally felt she was singing the song too low…or is it because it is originally sung by Sunidhi who can really sing well in the low range. Wasn't out of sur …and it wasn't the worst performance. I like her dainty looks very much…she's quite a doll!!
6) Priyanka from kolkotta: Sang "Tinka tinka"… it was sweet but forgettable…she was trying too hard to do the seductive oohs and aahs but couldn't manage quite to reach the heights with them…Alisha took years to master that dearie!
7) Charu from Dehradun: Sang "Dil ko hazaar baar roka" This was the best performance of the evening for me. A very contemporary choice of song, very controlled voice. She looked great, comfortable, not over confident or nervous. I liked her dress. Huzi tussi great ho. Johari hi asli kadar karta hai herae ki!!
8) Richa: "sajan ghar aane tha". She has a very sweet voice and I have to give the credit for that. But she should really try to sing with more expressions. She seemed to be reciting poetry …but still it wasn't too bad a performance. She should try and appear more confident on stage
9) Puja from Kolkotta: Sang 'tujhse naaraz nahi zindagi' My second favorite performance of the day. Very controlled and calm performance. Sang with a lot of emotions. Her hairstyle and hair colour rocks…she is good man!!
And finally about the judges:
1) Udit: seemed to enjoy Annu's being away. I have realized that he has a sound technical judgement . he points out the mistakes but in such a sweet manner that they don't look like mistakes! Joote martein hain magar kambal mein lappet kar!
2) Alisha: She is worse than Paula Abdul!
3) Javed Saab: aap to aise na thhe!! You praise everybody...how could you???
4) Annu: Tussi jaldi wapas aao … without you the show will give us diabetes!
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