This game has made me think harder than ever about vocal music. First, it was the challenge posed by Alka Yagnik in the first round of the female competition. Then were the backstage discussions about whom to include in the male competition. And now, this song has made me face up to important questions about how vocal music ought to be appreciated.
Sonu Nigam has a great voice, but two things I dislike about his voice were very prominent in this song. First is his tenor-like voice, which has often seemed to me too boyish compared with owners of heroic voices such as Kishore Kumar, Mohd Rafi and Udit Narayan. Of course, Sonu's voice is widely accepted and loved now, but there is still a doubt in my mind about the 'manliness' in his voice - he couldn't sing for Sunny Deol for example. Secondly, I have never been too fond of the excessive vibrato he infuses in his finishing notes. This song has emphasised Sonu's tenor voice and there are whole sequences based on vibrato, thus making me question my long-held prejudices against Sonu.
But thanks to Brahmabul for choosing this rarely heard song. On close evaluation, I feel that demanding a baritone voice from every male singer is just wrong. Firstly, what other singers do doesn't diminish or improve what Sonu has done. Secondly and more importantly, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a non-baritone voice! To those people who say that Sonu's voice is not manly(and such ppl do exist, not on this forum though): our definition of a manly voice is heavily based on popular singers of the past. The fact remains that a tenor is a perfectly fine male voice and calling that a drawback in someone's singing is absurd. What is even more absurd is that I just fully realised and accepted this now that I am having to judge 'Jeena Hai Tere Liye'!
As for the singing, I completely agree with ssk, it is 'phenomenol'! And I support brahmabul for pickng such a difficult song - in terms of difficulty, you could not have picked a better song for your favourite, so well done!! Sonu literally leaped from note to note. There was falsetto, low notes, high notes, voice-breaking effect, hints of Sonu's Mohd Rafi-style expression, harkats, harmonies - basically a mix of all of Sonu's eclectic influences!
And somone999 makes an important point, too, in highlighting the passion and feel of the singing. Sonu's voice quality and his vibrato style, far from being drawbacks, actually became the most attractive and effective parts of the rendition for me and forced me to abandon my prejudices about Sonu's singing.
However, I will not be giving this singing a full ten on ten, which is reserved for absolute flawlessness in this round. I felt that some parts were emoted too excessively and he sounded almost like he was crying - not something that moved me much at all. You can throw brickbats at me for being so picky, but I have to be honest to myself. Which means my score is 9/10!! However, from the audience who has been very generous in this contest, this song deserves 10/10!
And from today's Mr. Baritone, Shri Udit Narayan, I will be playing 'Hum Hain Iss Pal Yahan' from Kisna, music by A R Rahman.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uazJzPseRiU[/YOUTUBE]
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