MUSICAL CONTESTS - OVER THE TIMES!

Meri Aawaz Suno (Star Plus) - Sunidhi Chauhan, was selected winner of one of the toughest musical contests on Television at the age of 13 and is now one of the most popular playback singers in India.

Sa re ga ma pa (Zee TV) - Shreya Ghoshal, became the winner of the popular program at the age of 16 and went on to become the most talented & versatile singer of our generation.

Viva (Channel V) - Super flop group, of wannabes who could not even warble properly, leave aside singing. The one & only talented person amongst them, Mahua has deservedly got a break in movies, the othes have all fallen apart.

Aasma (Channel V) - Definitely a much refined and better version of Viva, with a reasonably talented bunch. Moderately successful and popular with the youth, slowly and steadily climbing the charts, but nothing exceptional in them to make them wildly popular.

Indian Idol (Sony Television) - Abhijeet Sawant, became an overnight sensation along with Amit Sana, Rahul Vaidya and Prajakta Shukre. Yet to achieve stardom like Sunidhi and Shreya. Doesn't have the required charisma or an exceptionally good voice, is floating mainly on Sony's aggressive promotion.

Super Singer (Channel V) - Ravindra Upadhyay, went on to win a reasonably tough competition and has got a break with the movie Iqbal. His voice, although of very good quality, is too similar to Sukhwinder.

Fame Gurukul (Sony Television) - Qazi Tauqueer and Ruprekha Banerjee. Qazi is already a superstar and the darling of the masses. Ruprekha does not enjoy Qazi's charisma or popularity and mostly will end up as a playback singer rather than a performer. These two have definitely been hyped up by the Media and the bubble might burst, if they are not able to live up to the Junta's expectations! Qazi might not make it as a singer, but he will be very popular as an overall performer.

Cheers,

MT