Talent shows a regional streak

doweshowbellyad=0;

Prashant Tamang (TOI Photo) More pics

What defines 'the best' when the decision rests with janata's SMSes? '

Is janata often swayed by regional and emotional considerations while voting for a deserving candidate? "Let the best man win," we shout ourselves hoarse when a talent hunt show is launched. But what defines 'the best' when the decision rests with janata's SMSes? 'The best' has now come to mean someone who is the ambassador of talent from a particular region or strikes an emotional chord. Wonder if these considerations are making us settle for the second best. The undisputed nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar recently disapproved of this trend. "SMSes are not the right way to judge any talent," she said.

THE X-FACTOR
Puja Chatterjee, a talent hunt show participant who made it to the top six of the competition says, " Janata knows it all. It's not that the people don't recognise talent, but somewhere the cultural and regional bias creeps in. The vote does go to the contestant from Bihar if the participant is a Bihari ." Echoing her view is the contestant of another reality show, Harshit Saxena. "Yes. Cultural or regional affinity between the contestant and the voter determines the future of many aspirants. But winning the crown doesn't determine one's future. It's the talent that counts in the long run."

BAAT JAZBAAT KI
A keen voter, Rohit Pandit, says, "People are emotional fools. They take into account irrelevant factors like background or region in mind while voting and let talent take a walk." On a different plane, Arundhati Banerjee who boasts of casting her vote judiciously, says: "It's been noticed that the praises from judges don't find acceptance by the people. For instance, there were certain participants who were applauded big time on the show, but the very next week they were ousted. And strangely enough, someone who was dismissed as an average singer was as safe as the judges sitting on the panel." In her view people have aversion for the praises heaped by judges on a certain contestant and sympathy for someone who is not so good!

IT'S A 15-MINUTE FAME
"Be cautious and don't be driven by the 15-minute fame on television," warns ace Bollywood singer Abhijeet Bahattacharya. Busy judging a popular talent hunt these days, he avers, "Results can be driven by any factor but the ultimate winner is quality. Winning the title is not victory. Establishing yourself as a singer is more important, as Toshi, an able contestant and singer did. Vishal Shekhar, Kunal Ganjawala, Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan are products of these reality shows. The only difference is that no one remembers them as a participant, as the title was bagged by someone else whose credentials come with a question mark now." For Abhijeet contestants rose from anonymity to fame and slipped back to obscurity, as they were not the right choice. While some who were unknown in reality shows rose to fame later as they had the talent in them.