Quality Of the Contestants

From the beginning, the judges and even we thought that it was near impossible to choose a favorite as they were all just so *perfect*

Was the piano round simply the best round because of a fluke or because the contestants were well aware that they had to give their best in order to be noticed and to reach the gala

I think that was to get familiar with the contestants and then everyone can vote accordingly!

I still believe that its hard to choose who should win. I mean come on see there are more than 60% on the Forum, who feels either Shivam OR Sreeram should win.

Originally posted by: _Anonymous_

From the beginning, the judges and even we thought that it was near impossible to choose a favorite as they were all just so *perfect*. Sometimes I feel the judges just are extra-generous with praises just to promote the show and make it seem like their show attracts the best of talents.

Has the quality of the contestants just deteriorated over time? Because Its so easy now to know that only 1 or 2 are the most deserving? No. I don't think so. In fact, I would say that those who had true potential actually improved themselves tremendously and now the overall standards are much higher than those of the piano rounds. As such, those who improved are obviously deserving, and those who are still at the earlier quality levels seem lacking.

Was the piano round simply the best round because of a fluke or because the contestants were well aware that they had to give their best in order to be noticed and to reach the gala? Actually, I think the overall standards have improved from the piano rounds. Some of the performances we see these days are simply mindblowing (like Sreeram's Khwaja mere Khwaja). But this is surely relative, so this is just my opinion. 😳

Did they just give up or get lax after they got the comfort of reaching galas? I suppose even if they din't really give up, thye might have low stamina, extra stress, more difficult situations & songs so some contestants seem to have dipped in quality.

I think this season had the toughest competition so far. Even now I feel most of the eliminated contestants except Yashraj have the potentail to compete with Sreeram, Shivam, Rakesh and Naushad.

^ I'm sorry but I'm a bit confused mintyfreshness, some parts of your post you are saying that the quality hasn't deteriorated and other parts you're saying it has..which is your stand LOL

Whoa! Anonymous is ruling the forums today. Let me answer one by one.

I don't think anybody took things lightly after reaching to Galas. Thing is before reaching to Gala how many songs does a singer actually sing.

First the audition round where one has to sing 2-3 lines from any song which a singer feels is comfortable with. Gone.

Second the audition round in Mumbai where they are made to sing in a group. Again the singer has to sing 2-3 lines. Gone.

Then there was a little change in the format. The singers selected after the second round were given on the spot songs by judges where the knowledge of a contestant in music was also tested. That's where Geetesh and Saira Banu lost out.
Then finally there was Piano round where actually the contestants were made to perform as they are going to perform in a Gala. Some of them like Vishwas, Manisha, Tia, Shashi delivered mind-blowing performances and they were through after only one performance. The rest were made to sing again.

Point I am trying to make is its easy to get away singing two songs of your liking but when you have to deliver performances week after week it becomes a whole together different thing. I am sure in Piano round contestants chose songs of their own choice. But in Galas they don't have this freedom.

Best example of this was Ravindar Ravi of season 1. Remember that guy from Ludhiana who used to paint houses for living. Ho got away with first two rounds and then delivered a stupendous performance by singing a Punjabi song in the Piano round which was his strength.
If there had been that round like this season where Geetesh and Saira Banu got eliminated, Ravindra Ravi won't have made into Gala. He absolutely didn't have any knowledge of Sur-Taal which became evident in Galas.

I think same is happening with people like Tia & Bhoomi. Bhoomi was awful in the last round. Had she sung that qawali in the Piano round, it would have been curtains down for her.
Of course things like confidence and luck also play their part.

But no doubt this time quality has improved. I think this is the first when I have 5 favorites in Sreeram, Shivam, Rakesh, Shashi & Vishwas. I will be very happy if any of these 5 win. Of course two of them are out now. So my hopes rest on Sreeram, Shivam and Rakesh now 😊

^I cannot agree with Brahmy more.. 😃

Originally posted by: _Anonymous_

From the beginning, the judges and even we thought that it was near impossible to choose a favorite as they were all just so *perfect*

Has the quality of the contestants just deteriorated over time? Because Its so easy now to know that only 1 or 2 are the most deserving

Was the piano round simply the best round because of a fluke or because the contestants were well aware that they had to give their best in order to be noticed and to reach the gala

Did they just give up or get lax after they got the comfort of reaching galas?

Absolutely not, quality of singers has not deteriorated, in fact, if anything, the quality of singers in the competition has improved. At the beginning, in the piano rounds, the contestants played on their strengths. They chose songs that they can sing well and songs/performances that would bring them in the limelight. In the gala rounds, themes restrict contestants by forcing them to sometimes (not all the time) come out of their comfort zone, and showcase something new. In some cases, that does not play well with the contestants because it showcases their weaknesses. In other cases, it does wonders for that contestant by showing us their true strengths. Example- Sreeram. His versatility has a played a large role in the support and popularity that he has garnered today.

The piano round and initial galas, comparatively, and in my opinion, were weaker than the galas. In the piano rounds, judges (and the production) is a little weary on their talent pool. They don't know if these contestants are really as good as they'd like them to be. So, they go easy on them. They praise them sometimes when they don't deserve as much praise. And other times, they praise them beyond the praise they deserved ( ie. treating an average performance as an above average one).

I don't think the contestants are getting lazy. Take Tia for example, I don't think Tia is a lazy person or that she does not focus. I honestly think that she is just not good enough for the competition. She has the potential, yes, but potential isn't enough anymore. There is nothing more that she can do at this point to turn things around for her. She is lacking in years of practice that some of the other contestants possess and rehearsing one week for a performance will not make up for make the lack of years of experience.

In fact, I think the competition gets tough now. Before, the contestants just had to be better than the rest, but now, the contestants truly have to be best. For us, as an audience, it is easier to judge and pick our favorites because not only do we know each singers' strengths, we also know their weaknesses. At this point, we can judge other factors that we were not able to judge at the initial stage. Factors like consistency, versatility, and overall improvement. These things count.

Great topic, Bahaar! :-)