Highlights!!!

(not my comments but from sify site)

Episode 1

They say Mumbai is a city that never sleeps and the beginning of Indian Idol Series 2 saw exactly that! From the day the auditions were announced, Mumbai just couldn't seem to wait for D-Day. No wonder, one witnessed never-ending queues waiting endlessly for the gate of the P L Deshpande Auditorium to open. For thousands of aspirants, that was the route to fame and the biggest fortune ever!

So we had people who got off the train at CST and walked straight to the venue with their bags and baggage. We also had suave boys and girls who drove themselves to the venue in plush cars. The common factor that bound the two: The desire to be the Agla Indian Idol!

Watch:

While our hosts Aman and Mini mingled with the crowds in the waiting area, the security had a tough time handling the piles of people who had gathered outside the venue. Thank God they recognised our honourable judges who, for a change, gave up on their lavish luxury cars and decided to take Mumbai's oldest and favourite wagon - the Tonga!

Farah Khan, Anu Malik & Sonu Nigam were greeted with cheers and whistles as they made their way to the audition room. The three had a glitter in their eyes, as they were amazed seeing the number of people, some familiar faces, some absolutely raw and unexpected.

But then that's the fun of judging a reality show. "We are here to have fun," pronounced Farah Khan and surely they were in for some serious fun!

I will still be rude, writes Anu Malik

One by one the contestants started rolling. Few were miserable from the word go and some were seriously funny! From songs of Anu Malik to those of Sonu Nigam, the contestants tried their level best to impress our Trimurti but all in vain!

It looked like God was in a mood to listen to Sonu. He prayed hard to hear a good voice and pat came Lekha Desai, a trainee in an ad-agency who is also a singer by choice. After choosing her, the judges were again in for some serious entertainment.

One after the other participants came singing the hot favourite of the season - Dus Bahane! And guess what our judges too had to find Dus Bahane to send these guys back home.

So we saw new inventions of saying no to people - Farah Khan gave apples and bananas to contestants who had entertained her with their weird performances, while the three together would wear scary masks so that they wouldn't have to show their faces to the camera.

And the best was - Aap Ghar Jao - the banner, which the three would hold to avoid saying anything about the misery they had just experienced.

But it was not as if all were bad. As Anu puts it, "Though Mumbai was disappointing, we found some good talent too". Kannabhai who had come all the way from Jodhpur turned out to be a great entertainer. He sang, he danced and he acted, impressing not one but all the three judges.

On being announced as chosen for the second round, he simply burst out crying saying his family never supported his talent. Then we had Amey Date, Panna Gill, Meenal Jain and Kshitij who sailed through purely on their singing prowess; and also Rajesh Tiwari from Jabalpur, a skinny character whose voice amazed Sonu from the first note itself!

If it's Indian Idol, there needs to be some drama. Jigar Kapadia's mother always wanted to see him as a big star. But when the judges failed to be charmed by his voice, she couldn't accept it.

After much persuasion, our hosts Aman & Mini got her in the audition area. Since Anu didn't want to break a mother's heart, he decided to break the rules and allowed Jigar to sing again. Yet again Sonu had to explain to him the flaws in his singing, after which the mother-son left without much solace.

So while some emerged winners, many saw their dreams shatter and still many vowed to come back the next season much more prepared and with much more conviction. As our judges move on to their next destination - Delhi - the chosen ones from Mumbai get on the job of preparing themselves for the uphill task.

Episode 2

It was time for Dilwalon Ki Dilli to showcase some serious talent! The common refrain of the hundreds of hopefuls who queued up outside the National Stadium was: "The Agla Indian Idol would be from Delhi!" And we must say that the claim may well turn out to be true as Delhi presented a wealth of talent, surpassing the expectations of our judges.

Our judges, yes the Royal Trimurti - Farah, Anu and Sonu lived one of the most fantastic experiences of their lives. The three entered the Stadium on elephant backs, just like the Maharaja would enter his kingdom on winning a battle.

The reception that the judges got was simply marvelous! To top it all, Aman and Mini had a tough time convincing the Kings – Anu & Sonu, and the sole Queen Farah to depart from their sawaris and get down to the work for which they were there.
Finally, when they touched the ground, the three judges were in for some major decisions. The initial few were ordinary but as more and more contestants started pouring in, the level of competition grew. So we saw Saquie Ahmed from Kashmir who lost his right hand in a bomb blast at the age of six and 17-year-old Neha Kakkar who impressed the judges with her sugary voice, being chosen for the next round. We also had Dilpreet who sings regularly at a local Gurudwara, who was invited to come for the next round.

While there were a few good voices, which were not at all difficult to choose, many turned out to be major source of headache for the three judges. Their tolerance levels were being tested to such an extent that the three almost dozed off to sleep, at one point.

This is when our celebrated hosts Aman and Mini came in to the picture. In order to boost up the enthusiasm of the judges, the two arranged for a local bhangra group to perform for the three so that they could have some refreshing time.

And God their break turned out to be a rocker, as it looked like the three, themselves had entered into a dance competition with a determination to win it bang on!

The efforts of the judges to ward off people from the show also continued. Farah was very straightforward in asking Chanderpal, an illiterate milkman from Haryana if his cows and buffalos gave more milk on hearing him sing? When Chanderpal replied in affirmative, the judges commented that he should stop torturing the poor animals.

Anu asked Kishore Kumar Kamal to danc, which he did. While all of them laughter out loud watching the dance, neither his singing, nor his dance appealed to any of the judges.

Being a reality show, emotions run high and nervousness creeps in at every level. Our judges are very well aware of this fact and their sharp ears and eyes do recognise the genuinely deserving from the lot.

Rohit from Allahabad was so nervous that he forgot his lines during the audition. It was Sonu who took the lead to convince him that it was absolutely normal for something like this to happen but he was also critical about the fact that such incidents will not be accepted in the larger levels of the competition.

Because of his soothing voice, Rohit managed to sail easily through the hearts of all three judges, but many were still not so lucky.

After hours of painful listening and a few moments of genuine voices, the judges packed their bags on route to Lucknow where now they would need to restart the hunt for the Agla Indian Idol.

Episode 3


Pehle Aap, Pehle Aap, Pehle Aap, Pehle Aap…" and the argument went on between Aman Verma and Mini Mathur. We thought these two themselves would eat up most of the footage of the Lucknow Audition Episode of Indian Idol Series 2.
Thank God it ended just in time when judges Farah Khan, Sonu Nigam and Anu Malik made their way to the venue.

Thousands of people from various cities and from various walks of life make it to the dream podium. But did Lucknow turn out to be that lucky for the participants? Well, read on!

The city of Nawabs was a centre of attraction for many aspiring small town people who were there in large numbers to realise their dream of becoming Indian Idol. People from Ayodhaya, Chhatrapur, Faizabad, Rohtak, Jammu, Jabalpur, Surat and some even from Bangalore made it a point not to miss the bus to fame and fortune. And boy, the contestants too turned out to be entertaining. From a contestant who removed his jacket to one with a coloured wig, from a pizza delivery boy to contestants holding pens as an alternative for microphone, Lucknow saw a mixed bag of talented singers and talented entertainers too.

Mrinal Gajjar had undertaken a 31-hour train journey from Surat to Lucknow and had slept under the tree, just outside the venue, to participate in the auditions. The self-proclaimed "biggest fan" of Sonu Nigam, he had filled in his name in the entry form as 'Sonu Nigam' and was even carrying a picture of Sonu in his purse! Unfortunately his voice didn't impress his idol and he was advised to return back to his hometown and never to attempt singing again!

Then we had Mohd. Rehan Khan, a t-shirt seller who sang Kal Ho Na Ho; Ritu Pathak from a small town named Gopalganj; Abha Hanjura from Jammu & Kashmir; Mohd. Shoaib from Jodhpur and Renuka Deshpande from Jabalpur – all of whom got selected thanks to their great voices that impressed the judges.

Lucknow also saw the first fight between the judges. On two counts, the judges disagreed with each other in choice of contestants. Shariq Khan, a pizza delivery boy was liked by Farah, but Anu completed disagreed with her on camera. Next was the turn of Abhinav, who put Sonu and Anu on battleground. Abhinav, who confessed that he is a big fan of Anu Malik, sang the song 'Aslam Bhai' in a rather funky manner.

While the judges had their share of arguments, this episode also saw the contestants openly challenging the judge's attitude and behaviour. Alok, who had coloured hair, was ridiculed by the judges who asked him to sing a song thrice. His anger was clearly visible and so were the outburst of several other rejects who felt the judges have crossed their limits this time around.

As all the drama was happening outside the audition area, our jury continued to be jolted by one shocking performer, then the next and the next. This time, they turned Einstein again to throw people out of the competition. While Anu would start to sing a funny song, Sonu did some serious bit of teaching to contestants whose songs were full of flaws.

The Lucknow audition of Indian Idol Series 2 was full of excitement and drama. A perfect blend of talent display and angry outburst, the episode provided complete entertainment to the audience. After all, choosing the Agla Indian Idol is not going to be easy at all!

Episode 4

The City of Joy - Kolkata - was the final destination for the judges of Indian Idol Series 2, who had previously travelled to Mumbai, Delhi and Lucknow in search of that one performer who could be crowned the Agla Indian Idol. Anu Malik, Farah Khan and Sonu Nigam have come across a mixed bag of talent and misplaced aspiration, emotion and criticism during an exciting one-month journey spent discovering new voices

In Kolkata, the Indian Idol Series 2 was shot amid the heritage buildings and trams, the palm trees and the mishti-dohi of Bengal. Seated royally in a vintage car, our judges passed by the narrow lanes and the slow-moving trams as they made their way through the old city to the audition area at Salt Lake. The aura around the venue was addictive and the atmosphere full of energy. After being greeted by Aman Verma and Mini Mathur, the judges discovered that hundreds of aspiring singers had practiced all night in a nearby open field, waiting in desperation for the sun to rise and show them the way to stardom. Impressed by the josh of the contestants, the judges moved to the audition room and began their job.

Unfortunately the situation within the audition room turned out to be in stark contrast to the josh that was evident outside. The judges were disappointed by the quality of singers who auditioned. Then came Sandeep Acharya, all the way from Rajasthan, whose voice quality impressed all. In fact, the judges even said that if they had to give him a score, it would be 130 out of 100 for his singing talent. Kolkata, thus, got its first successful contestant.

Then came the turn of Lopa Mudra, who was confident of her singing and her personality right from the word go. Though brimming over with confidence, she failed to impress the judges. In fact, Farah Khan went so far as to ask her never to perform ever again, while Sonu Nigam advised her to learn singing. With emotions running high, she burst into tears in front of the jury saying she had high fever and hence couldn't perform that day. Disappointed, she had to leave.

Also shown the door was Swapan Pandey, a temple priest who had come with seven of his friends to participate in the competition. While he is a popular voice among temple visitors, he wasn't able to include our distinguished jury to the list of his followers. However, he turned out to be brave and promised he would learn and come back next year to be the Indian Idol.

Then came the most dramatic moment in the episode when the judges got up to stab a contestant. Kunal, who sang with his eyes closed, was so bad that the judges scared everyone by approaching him with a knife. How did the dangerous instrument reach the audition room? Well, your guess is as good as ours! Then there was Manoj Kumar Shukla who sang a song with his face half-covered. He was rejected as soon as he started.

In the midst of all this drama, Jolly Das was busy preparing her song for the competition. Her nervousness was clear on her face, but the moment she stepped into the audition room, she transformed completely. Even though she sang with her eyes closed, she managed to impress Farah and also the other two judges. What convinced them to choose her for the next round was her confidence and her belief that she would make it big.

And finally came the tough nut, or rather the 'hard-boiled egg' as Anu Malik put it. Shravan's rendition of Aashiq Banaya Aapne left Anu fuming. In sheer anger, Anu pronounced that his singing reminded him of a hard egg that would not break even if you boil it (sic). He insisted that Shravan avoid attempting singing ever again.

What began as a josh-full journey proved to be a damp squib. After choosing a few good voices, the judges have returned to Mumbai where Round 2 of the competition is about to begin. In the Theatre Round, the 172 contestants, chosen from various parts of India, will be tested. While some will move an inch closer to stardom, many will pack their bags, maybe to come back again next year.

Episode 5

Round 2 of Indian Idol Series 2 is about to get underway and tension and nervousness grips the 171 contestants who are anxious to find out what's in store for them. For many like Deepak Hella and Mohd. Rehan Khan this was their first ever visit to Mumbai and besides the excitement of reaching round 2 of the show, the City of Dreams enthralled them.

"It's a dream come true for me. On my own I don't think I would have ever come to Mumbai but thanks to Indian Idol I have got to experience this vibrant city," said Mohd. Rehan Khan, the t-shirt seller from Lucknow.

So while some contestants were busy enjoying the aura surrounding this wonderful city, many others knew that the task in front of them is an uphill one. The journey to fame, after all, is not easy and at Indian Idol, you certainly got to be at your aggressive best.

Day One of the Theatre Round in Mumbai saw the contestants waiting apprehensively for the three judges to walk in. Anu Malik, Farah Khan and Sonu Nigam first explained the process. On day one, the judges will choose only 76 out of the total of 171.

On day two, 50 will be chosen from 76 and thereafter, the final 28 on day three. "The contest is only getting tougher and you are required to raise the standards way above your own expectations, if you have to qualify for the big league," said Farah Khan.

Then started 'sangeet ka mahasangram' as Mini puts it. The contestants were divided in groups of seven and each one had to go and perform in front of the judges. The judges would then call the entire group together to declare the results.

Here too, there was drama in full swing! Sonu Nigam didn't like Neha Kakkar singing 'Bheege Honth Tere' while Ritu Pathak forgot her song on stage and felt the judges would discard her from the show. She cried and begged and even appealed for another chance since she came from a poor background.

Anu Malik was furious that she was using her poverty to move ahead in the show. However both Neha and Ritu proved to be potential Indian Idols in the eyes of the judges.

As the day ended, the show reached an inch closer in the process of choosing the Agla Indian Idol. Day two would be filled with more action and more tough challenges and the chosen 76 are about to leave the venue when we see Rajesh Tiwari from Jabalpur walking in.

The guy had missed his flight and was very tensed as he entered the audition room. The judges were kind enough to offer him to sing and were very impressed by his voice. He was too asked to prepare for the next day.

Day two started with contestants practicing with the guitarist on the songs given to them. Today is the duet round and each slotted pair needs to focus not just on singing but also on the performance.

'Dus Bahane', 'Tauba Tauba', 'Hujur is Kadar' and 'Hasta Hua Noorani Chehra' were the given songs. While for some, the songs turned out to be a matter of great bonding, for a few others things simply weren't looking great. Neha Kakkar was paired up with Deepak Hella who would simply not come in sync with her singing. While many were forgetting songs, some couldn't take the tension gripping the venue.

One after the other, the judges started calling in the contestants who tried to not only give their best shot at singing but also at performing and presenting themselves well. Abha Hanjur and Sagar Sawarkar & Amey Date and Jyotsna Navandar were the star pairs of the day's performance. The judges not only liked the chemistry amongst the two but also complimented them on being a great looking pair! Now, do we sense something cooking?

Jokes apart, there was a serious problem with Rajesh Tiwari who had come in late the previous day. The group he was asked to be a part of simply refused to perform with him as Rajesh had never heard the song 'Hujur is Kadar' they had chosen to perform.

Sonu Nigam intervened to solve the problem and shifted Rajesh to a new group that was singing 'Dus Bahane'. The performance went off good, but will Rajesh Tiwari be able to make it to the next round?

Episode 6:

Monday's episode had left the contestants in anxiety and gripping tension, as the judges were about to reveal the decision that would decide the fate of the 76 contestants. In three different rooms, they all waited, holding their breath, anxious to find out if they had made it to the second round or not. Now was judgment time.
In walked Farah in Room 1 where she was amazed by the nervousness on the faces of the contestants. The moment she announced that all of them were chosen for the next round, a few broke out in tears while many others were simply stunned. But the happiness and the joy that had eloped them for the last few hours was clearly visible on their faces now.

Anu Malik, unfortunately, had gone into a room where he couldn't bring a smile to people's faces. He was given the difficult task of tell the rejects that they had to pack their bags and go back home. There were tears in this room too, but out of sheer disappointment.

Sonu, considered to be the sweetest of the judges, was there to announce the next decision. Contestants in his room were chosen and given a chance to prove their mettle in the next round. So while many touched his feet and embraced him with excitement, few knew that the task ahead was more difficult.

So we had a total of 53 contestants who were chosen for the final battle where the judges would, for the last time, decide the destiny of the contestants. Once the judges have chosen the final 28, India will decide the fate of the contestants till they choose the Agla Indian Idol.

The judges winded up the day by giving music CDs to contestants, which had the songs each one of them could choose to perform the next day. The songs chosen were – for girls: "Deedar De" and "Kaisi Paheli" & for boys there was "Yeh Tara Woh Tara", "Sun Zara" and "Yeh Hawayein".

The judges may have left but the work for the chosen contestants had just started. Each one rushed to their hotel rooms, grabbed their evening bite and got down to practice for the big day.

Tensions were running high. The contestants on the final leg of the theatre round presented smiling faces to the judges, who knew very well that behind the artificial for-the-camera smiles was hidden the biggest fear of their lives at that point. This was the day when their dreams would either sizzle or fizzle.

One by one, the contestants were asked to come and perform. While Anu Malik continued to tease Sagar with Abha, Amey Date was not spared either. Sonu Nigam and Farah Khan joked with him about Jyotsna, with whom he shared a great chemistry in the previous round! Arshad, who was full of confidence before the show began, left his performance in the middle and walked off the stage crying.

Sonu Nigam was so disturbed by this unusual gesture that he decided to ask him what went wrong. Sonu discovered that Arshad was full of attitude -- He declared that no singer on this stage could sing as good as him, an opinion the judges refused to second.

Leaving Arshad aside, the judges continued, listening to performers one after the other and even asked then why they wanted to be the next Indian Idol. While some said they wanted serve the music field with their talent, some were clear that they wanted to make their parents proud by doing so. Each one had an ambition, each one had dreams but only 28 of the 53 dreams could move on to the next stage.

Then came the time to announce the judgment. The judges had divided the contestants in groups of eight and they were called accordingly. Some groups were chosen in entirety while some were rejected outright. The judges left the contestants stunned and surprised, many unable to react at the first place.

So finally we had 28 musical gems who have been chosen by the judges. Now that their job is done, your job begins as you now get to choose the Agla Indian Idol.

The 28 contestants chosen include: Kshitij Wagh, Sagar Sawarkar, Ravi Tripathi, N C Karunya, Rohit Sinha, Mukesh Tomar, Shree Kumar, Yeshashree Bhave, Neha Kakkar, Monali Thakur, Dilpreet, Abha Hanjura, Ritu Pathak, Renuka Deshpande, Sandip Acharaya, Javed Khan, Panna Gill, Anuj Sharma, Nakash Aziz, Amey Date, Desh Gaurav Singh, Lekha Desai, Sandipa Dutta, Antara Mitra, Jolly Das, Jyotsna Navandar, Saberri Bhattacharaya and Meenal Jain.

its okk will post more when i get it 😛

Episode 7

It was tension all the way on day 1 of the first piano round in Indian Idol Series 2. As seven of the 28 selected musical gems got ready to showcase their best ever performance, the judges were equally nervous.
Sonu Nigam went to the Siddhi Vinayak Temple before coming to the venue, as he wanted to pray for the best contestants.

"We have really struggled to select these fortunate few who are waiting for the right opportunity to prove their mettle. Now that the onus of choosing the Agla Indian Idol shifts from our hands to the people of this country, I pray for the best to win."

As the judges entered the venue of the piano round, the contestants were already rehearsing for their performance. Seeing desperate eyes around, the judges decide to share a word of experience with them.

"Don't be nervous. Go out there and perform. The most important thing is to enjoy your performance. Remember, if you don't enjoy yourself, people around you certainly will not!" warned Farah Khan.

The judges have taken their seats and the contestants are still doing their last- minute bit when a surprise jolts them. In walks a naughty, sweet and bubbly character who is all set to woo them from the 'guest judge' seat.

Nikki 'Tanisha' Bakshi, dressed gorgeously in a short mini-skirt and sleeveless top is amazed at the sheer talent our Indian Idol contestants possess. "Hats off to these guys, man. They really rock!" she said as she mingled with the contestants, giving them a word of advice and good luck.

As the judges settled down, there was nerve-cracking drama in the green room. First was the turn of Sagar Sawarkar from Mumbai who was more nervous as his father was seated in the audience today.

His rendition of 'Kisi Roz Tumse, Mulaqat Hogi' from 'Pardes' was applauded by all. The judges liked the confidence, stage presence and most importantly, the energy he brought into the song.

Though Sonu had a word of caution for him to control his notes, he too was convinced that Sagar would make it to the next level.

One down, six to go for the day. The Piano Round of Indian Idol Series 2 definitely got a great start with Sagar's super performance. The pressure on Delhi's Mukesh Tomar mounted further and unfortunately it marred his performance.

His performance on Sonu Nigam's 'Tera Milna Pal Do Pal Ka' met with an unpleasant response from the jury. While Farah felt there was zero entertainment value in his performance, Tanisha too felt bored at the end of it.

Anu's slight words of praise too couldn't convince Mukesh that all would be well. After all, it was just a performance. But Mukesh knew he had possibly delivered , his last performance on Indian Idol Series 2.

Next came NC Karunya from Mumbai whose performance met with applause from Sonu Nigam and the rest of the judges. He sang a Punjabi folk number, which he executed brilliantly with the right attitude and stage presence, according to Sonu. Anu labeled him as the 'Abhishek Bachchan of the Music World', who was here to stay for a long innings.

But Rohit Sinha wasn't as lucky as Karunya. His performance on the song 'Tum Mile' from 'Criminal' was not up to the mark as he was evidently nervous on stage. The judges felt he lost the pace of the song and sang it too fast with the intention of just finishing it.

Four down…two great performances and two so-so but this didn't affect the performance of Kshitij Wagh who sang the intense yesteryear classic 'Dilbar Mere Kab Tak Mujhe Tadpaoge'.

All the judges appreciated Kshitij's brilliant effort and Tanisha, especially complimented Kshitij's wife, present in the audience, for having a husband who can sing so passionately for her.

"Throughout the song, you were looking at her and that's amazing," said Tanisha.

So far, the judges stuck to two extremes on the show. They have either appreciated the performance fully or have criticised it. But after Shree Kumar's performance, there was a mixed reaction on their faces.

As he finished his song 'Ae Ajnabi' from 'Dil Se', Anu was thrilled to see a good performance while Farah commented that since he didn't enjoy his own performance, the excitement level dropped terribly. Sonu, too, felt that though he sang the song with no expressions on his face, the sheer voice encapsulated the audience in the room.

Finally the last performer stepped on the stage - Ravi Tripathi who came loaded with a song with which all three judges have been involved - 'Tumse Milke Dil Ka Hai Jo Haal' from 'Main Hoon Na'.

Backstage, Ravi had second thoughts on choosing the song, but when he came on stage, he was a transformed person. His performance enthralled Anu, Farah and Tanisha; all of who felt his performance was flawless.

However Sonu disagreed with them and said that Ravi was not in his full flow today and could do much better.

So seven performers have presented their talent and its now time for you to choose who remains in the race for the Agla Indian Idol. So pick up your phones and call 190 4424 2525 (Contestant Code) or SMS the name of your favourite contestant to 2525.

And yes, don't forget to catch the next episode of Indian Idol Series 2 to find out which three of the seven contestants move on to the next level.

To vote sms IDOL to 2525 or Call 1904424252501-07

To vote for Sagar Sawarkar sms SAGAR to 2525 or call 1904424252501

To vote for Mukesh Tomar sms MUKESH to 2525 or call 1904424252502

To vote for Karunya sms KARUNYA to 2525 or call 1904424252503

To vote for Rohit Raj Sinha sms ROHIT to 2525 or call 1904424252504

To vote for Kshitij Wah sms KSHITIJ to 2525 or call 1904424252505

To vote for Shree Kumar sms KUMAR to 2525 or call 1904424252506

To vote for Ravi Tripathi sms RAVI to 2525 or call 1904424252507

Originally posted by: Pablesha_kiran

Episode 7


Finally the last performer stepped on the stage - Ravi Tripathi who came loaded with a song with which all three judges have been involved - 'Tumse Milke Dil Ka Hai Jo Haal' from 'Main Hoon Na'.

Ravi Tripathi did not sing that song. He sang the song 'Tumse Milke, Aisa Laga Tumse Milke, Aarman huve poore dil ke' originally sung by his mentor Suresh Wadkar.

Originally posted by: jaysp

Ravi Tripathi did not sing that song. He sang the song 'Tumse Milke, Aisa Laga Tumse Milke, Aarman huve poore dil ke' originally sung by his mentor Suresh Wadkar.

hey as i said not my comments but frm sify sorry for the mistake