Round 5: Alka Yagnik

Note:

No doubt this is a fun/playful song. From the music, to the lyrics, to the movie. Alka tries to get to the top with one of her 90s classics.

I love the happy (but not ballady nor dancey) round!

The beginning 'ad lib' portion is horrible. Sorry Alkaji, but in order to give the 'whispering' effect, her notes quivered a LOT. I can imagine Chitra singing this with a perfect hold on the notes. The fact that Alkaji's control on sur wavered because she tried a different projection style goes to show just how challenging such a throw is! That's why judges give extra credit to songs such as Kal Ho Na Ho, Tinka Tinka or Mere Haath Mein - the singers manage to hold on to the notes whilst softening their throw.

Back to Alka in 'Poochho Zara Poochho' and you get a dose of everything you love about her singing. It's young, vibrant and expressive. As for difficulty, there are some difficult gamaks in the antara and the 'tummsee dil lagane ki saza hai' is difficult too. Many other transitions she does within the melody are worth credit. Most of all, is her awesome expression. She could really be an actress, as her feelings seem so genuine and unforced - I'm reminded of Lataji and Ashaji, as I feel only they could been as effortlessly emotive as Alka in this song.

I would have loved to give Alka an 8 or 9 for this. Technically, the tempo of the song as well as the nature of the tune mean that this is a challenging song, to which Alka has done mor ethan full justice. And her 'acting' was great too. And it touched my heart. BUT the beginning ad lib portion (I don't know what else to call it 😕) was not up to mark.

I think I'll discount the 9 ase there are more difficult songs out there. So should I cut a mark for the beginning, or be generous and give her an 8??

Of course you should be generous to Alkaji

I guess since I keep swinging from 7 to 8 to 9, it's only fair to stop at 8.

So I'll give it 8/10. It could have been better, had the beginning been done well!

The singing failed to impress me. The song had a lot of potential, but her singing was concentrated more on how to vary the songs. These kind of songs are routine for singers like Alka ji, but what ticked me off was the unnessecary usage of changes in the song. It was a plain song, but she just had to go up and down all over. Now that's good in a way, but because of that, the song lost it's fun quotient. She didn't go off anywhere, I have to agree. I give her a 7!

I felt the song was very fast...felt that alkaji was really concentrating to keep up with the pace of singing...I felt the scale also was a bit on the higher side.....and this didnt help in voice enhancement...not the best of her songs...and just didnt like the way she sings 'ya ya ya '...I feel sad to give my fav just a 6.

Agree with xobile. The initial portion of the song does not sound pleasing to ears.

8/10

I have been extremely liberal in giving alkaji a 7 in this, probably because of more for alka the brand rather than alka the singer for this track. Its just plain ordinary, especially that shaky start. Just mundane.
I mean, its just that ordinary run of the mill tracks which comes and goes and you just wonder...who was she?
Flat singing, yes, could be forgiven for being a mid 90s track but she has sung much, much better songs than these.
I donno why but cannot give her more than 7 as a listener.

Hhhmmmmm…such an old track…still retains its freshness..

I liked the way Alka ji sang this song with an exuberant feel and made it her own. The way she rises from lower points to the higher points is commendable. Some parts where her voice gets too thin, are the parts which I didn't like, like the starting portion. The throw could have been improved. It has been a hit of its times, no doubt. The flow of the singing is maintained well with the melody. Pronunciation is clear. Overall, a good job done.

The happy tone is there, it seems as if the singer is dancing along the words, which is definitely a plus point. Even, the romantic lines are sung well with the perfect romantic emotion. Still it lacked some 'wow' factor, some parts could have been done better I feel.