Nice post, Lissa!
I have a bone to pick with almost everything on the show! 😛😆
The Format:
Like you pointed out, we did lose some good singers in the duels round, some of them lost out by just 2% votes - Soham & Chaitanya (Khaike Paan Banaraswala), Ajay Brijwasi (Lagan Lagi), Raenit (who was given another chance), Manganiyar fusion (Sawar loon).
The duets round was also flawed in the sense that some not-so-good performers piggybacked on the good ones and were saved, in particular Dr Sudeep and Hoshiyaar.
Thereafter the contestants began performing in 2 groups divided between Sat and Sun. Here again, I would say the eliminations were unfair and seemed to be luck-of-the-draw depending on which group you were in.
The judges:
They do nothing other than give tutaaris, make far-fetched statements and give their 5% votes. No feedback, no pointers on how to improve, nothing of value. Shankar, at least, was better in Season 1. About Monali, the less said the better. The tutaaris don't make sense either. They're supposed to be handed out for the best performances, but here almost everyone is given a tutaari.
Song choices: Yes, this has been pretty bewildering to me. The point of inviting the guest stars, I thought, was to give the contestants a common theme to choose songs. But this was followed only in the Sridevi, Govinda and Rekha episodes. The song choices in others were so random. 😕 I wish they'd had more themes, something to restrict the song choices. The contestants do stick to their comfort genre, and that's because there's no mentor or even a theme that will dictate what they should sing. Most of them stick to what they're comfortable with. Excepting Hemant no one has experimented at all.
Plus, all the crazy shenanigans that the channel has pulled vis-a-vis Afreen group's elimination and this week with Vishnumaya.
It's true I'm less invested this season. Not sure whether it's because the contestants don't excite me as much or if it's the show itself. Do not enjoy Ravi's hosting either nor do I enjoy the skits/ fillers that happen during the show.