Judges Javed Akhtar, Shankar Mahadevan, Kay Kay and headmistress Ila Arun have not been included in the second coming of Fame Gurukul.
Rechristened Fame X, the show will now air on SAB instead of Sony, as reported in 'Fame Gurukul bana Fame X' (HiTLIST, September 12).
'X' factor
Slated to air November-end, SAB has now pencilled in Palash Sen (of Euphoria) as the new dean of Fame Academy. The decision to rope in Sen, is due to to make the show more youth-centric.
Says Palash, "I did catch up on Fame Gurukul last year. At the moment, my main aim is to select 14 accomplished contestants from diverse backgrounds. This is what will set them apart. I hope to get the right people with that X factor in the Academy."
Sen, who was earlier a judge with Channel [V] Popstars, will be an integral part of the auditions throughout the country. "I will be present at every centre to find those who have that X factor," he adds.
When asked about her exclusion from Fame, Ila Arun says, "I know that Fame Gurukul is coming back as Fame X. And none of us, Javed, Shankar, Kay Kay are on again. We have not been approached for the new format."
Ethos goes for toss
Arun feels that by modifying the concept of Fame they are forgetting the Indian ethos. "I guess they want people to sing Elton John now. They forget that the participants even last year were all young people. The contestants are always youngsters in such music-based reality shows. So anyway it is youth-centric."
In its new format, Fame X (as the name suggests) is being given a mod look with lots of emphasis not only the singing talent but also on the X factor. The X factor will be measured as overall appeal in terms of attitude, style of performance and behaviour. Also, instead of last year's winning Fame Jodi (Qazi Touqeer and Ruprekha Banerjee), there will only be one winner in the finale.
SAB has also changed the production house of Fame. Last year it was Miditech, this time around it is Endemol, who has the rights to the Spanish reality show called Operation Truinfo, on which Fame is based. |
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