What a wonderful group this was!
Vipul, whom I do not remember from the Delhi audition, was stunning. He took a song that borders on raunchy and turned it into a more subtle erotic love-song. That takes class and talent. This boy is going to be the surprise package of this series.
Abhilasha is excellent, and in her case I would say that she took a song most of us were not looking forward to hearing and made it somehow interesting. There are split seconds in her singing when I want to turn down the volume, though, and blunt the shrill edge.
Amitabh has a lovely voice, but somehow he never completely breaks into the 'wow!' league. I can't pinpoint what is missing. Can you?
Aarti sings exceptionally and I would buy a light classical or classical CD of hers. I am not able to enthuse about her to the level she deserves, because some part of me does not like the vibe she sends out that of course, she's the best. Confidence is great, but smugness? I also don't think that reminding us that her father is a well-known classical singer every single week is doing very much to help her. For me, this is that indefinable case that is there in every single series.
Prantik I heard for the first time today. Another great voice. But after Vipul, they were all just okay. He did sing well enough I guess except that I seem to remember that a couple of times he started singing a fraction of a beat early.
Dipin. It was not his day today. If Sanchari had not been so bad, he would have been out. And that begs the question another thread is discussing? Would the judges have hesitated to throw him out?
I did not have a problem with Ryan's free interpretation rendition of 'Lakshya,' even though I rather like the original. What shook me was his shaking sur. Soon after he started, he seemed to lose his nerve completely. What followed was completely besura and he was just shouting out words. A real pity, because his voice is good, his determination is great and his singing has tremendous power. But where can you go without sur?
I find it hard not to root for Ryan though. There is something very likeable about him; that something that does not come through to me for Aditi. The best reason for having judges decide is that when we watch at this distance, factors like this start to overshadow capability and performance. That is unfair to the performer and to music itself.
Sanchari. Sanchari. Who gave that child that song to sing? She had no feeling for it and the dress (sorry to bring up the unmusical) underscored her utter unsuitability at present for the mood of that song. We have heard very young people sing very erotic songs (and Shreya was not that old when she recorded this) but they manage to simulate, summon or imitate the mood right. This was all wrong.
I have to say that when she sang Hawa Hawaii, my sense was that this was an old familiar one that she had performed hundreds of times, a tried and tested number that she knew she could do flawlessly. At that time, I wished she had picked something more grown-up, but she has not grown up this much. She could have picked something in between the two.
Should the judges have placed them on standby? Both? One? There is already another thread to discuss this. I will say, I can understand their reluctance to see Sanchari go. I am glad of it because this girl lost the children's series to someone who was older, was excluded from Challenge because she was too young and if she had been eliminated without even a show of regret for singing a song she was too young for at heart, then I would have felt very bad and very discouraged for her.
But this was always going to be a hard week. We knew they were some of the best in the competition and we knew we would lose two talented people whoever it was.
