“If I were the judge...'-Shaan

The way Zee TV can not do without its super-hit talent hunt show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, the show, which has been instrumental in shaping up the channel's current number 2 position, it also can not do without its anchor-singer Shaan. He is almost synonymous with the serial.

So much so that recently, when he was not available for the serial due to some earlier professional commitment, the ratings of the show actually witnessed a dip. Anyways, the singer is back with the brand new season of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa with Li'l Champs – a kids' special. We grilled Shaan on his new series and life as a successful singer- anchor.

You are such an integral part of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, then what made you make a disappearing act during Ek Main Aur Ek Tu?
Actually I was already committed to my US tour, even before Ek Main Aur Ek Tu was conceptualised. Therefore I had to give it a miss. But now I am back with Li'l Champs.

Talking about Li'l Champs remind me that in past also there were kids' specials, but never a whole series focused on children!
Yeah that's true. Earlier we used to have just three or four special series on kids. But for the first time, we are having one full series, a contest on such a large scale. The kids have been brought to Mumbai from all over India and then trained and groomed for the competition. Another great thing about this whole deal is the lifetime scholarship which the winner will get at the end.

How has the response been so far?
Well, the response has been quite good and is expected to get better in the days to come. The TRPs haven't been bad either. But there is still a very long way to go.

Can you point out your favorites, who all are likely to do well or win?
All of them are very talented kids. But among the girls Shradha Das, Sanchita and Neha Verma have a good chance. And in boys, Divaakar stands a very good chance. Navakaanti is good with classical and I guess he will be in some sorts of trouble if he gets to sing regular songs. A lot depends on luck and chance too. So, let's wait and watch.

And what do you say about the current trend of boys winning all the talent hunt shows including 2 Indian Idols, Challenge 2005, Fame Gurukul and so on?
It's quite strange for the reason that most of the times, its girls who are more talented than their male counterparts, but lose out to them in final stages. Even during Challenge 2005 I had thought that the girls had a better chance. But eventually the boys did better. As for Li'l Champs, so far the girls are performing better than the boys, but then you never know.

There are reports that among the contestants, there are some kids who belong to famous musical families! How true is this?
Very much. We have kids from famous musical families, but we wouldn't be revealing their names as it would build pressure on them.

Some feel that the judges are too harsh on the kids. Don't you feel bad about it?
If I were a judge I wouldn't have been harsh on the poor kids. But then, everyone has his/her own ways to tackle things. Actually, sometimes when one says 'its okay, you can do better' the kids don't take it seriously. So may be, they scold them just like our school teachers did .

Talent hunts have been instrumental in providing launching-pads to many budding singers. Wouldn't it have helped you, had there been such contests in your times too?
In fact Sa Re Ga Ma Pa was around those days too (almost 11 years ago) with Sonu Nigam. Many of today's singers like Kunal (Ganjawala) had participated in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. I could have too, but I didn't as I lacked the confidence and the guts. But I must say, win or lose, these contests are a great learning process.