Why on earth are we comparing a 17 year old boy was with a person who was music personified over the years lending his voice to en number of great musical compositions. Wihtout being rude I want to point out that he has miles to go before he can even think that he has come close to Rafi Saab. Just by copying someones voice he will becme a successful mimic and not a singer. The next Rafi, the next Kishoreda, the next Sonu Nigam, the next Lataji or the next Ashaji, etc etc, why cant the new breed be the next themselves. I would like to point out the there should be no discussion as who would be the next or the best immitator of a great music legend alive or like anyone who has passed away.
I believe that this contest was meant to throw up new original voices and not mimmicry artists who would ape past greats to attain immortality. The past greats and the living legends are immortal and will live till the time there are music lovers. Yes mimmicry artist or as they are announced on stage shows as the Voice of so and so can only hope to make some money but never attain or reach a standard where they will be called greats. These type of singers are a plenty and can be viewed on stage - whether in college campuses, jathra's or on other stages even abroad where people like to live up in nostalgic moments. But these people are soon forgotten once the song on stage is over and people go back to their homes and listen to the original on their Cd systems. Why cannot we accept change and why do we want continuity. Change can throw up new legends.
At the risk of being bullied and shouted out I think to an extent Paresh and Sharib alongwith Debojit to a certain extent were the only one who was not touted to be copying someone or the other. Hema who has the ability and willingness to go beyond the contest also was told by the mentors - do not remember who that he would get votes from the south since he sounded like SP balasubramanium. Swananda was touted as the next thing after Ashaji, Twinkle seemed to be a Sunidhi clone, Himani had the grove stuck in the Richa Sharma type of rustic voice - not a bad thing as a genre but being typified can mean end of story - Vinit is being hailed as the next Rafi Saab and the next Sonu Nigam. I think Sonu Nigam should take umbarge or maybe he is happy at having a clone who sings like him. Maybe it is kind of a hero worship but even heros would want their followers to step out of their shadows instead of using their shadows as stepping stones towards quasi success - I say quasi success because the success is due to the shadow and not because of the person who has used shadow has something to offer and this success is limited to home grown mehfils, college gatherings, and stage shows and is never lasting - it ends with one show and there is a long wait and void till the next thing come along. Yes it does mean money and that is not a bad thing in itself but people have short memories and get tired of repetition. So originality will always be a bigger success than a copy - the best copies always fade over time and are not permanent.
And of course we are at fault when we hail these copies and the next big thing as a conseqence of being the copy of the legend. We should nto promote these copies and should look at originality. People are nostalgic fools and unfortunately in the new generation there are a few who understand and follow good music, not that Gen X music is bad and I think there are a few good ones but not greats, it is mostly disposable music - use and throw. I mean do we think that an aashiq banaya aapne or a dhoom machale will be remembered 40 or 50 years hence like we remember Man Tarpat hari darshan - from Baiju Bawra or O hasina zulfo Wali from Teesri manzil ( not 40 year old but old) or Madhuban me radhika naache. NO WAY. So we can never have another Rafi or Manna dey or Mukesh nor can we have another Lata Mangeshkar or Ahsa Bhosale or R D Burman or Sachin da or Shanker Jaikishan. But yes we will have copy cats and also Music Directors and Singers who try to copy the style or genre or people who have been influenced by them. But yes we may hear the names of Rehman and Maybe Ismail Durbar who have originality and uniqueness in many of their compositions though Rehman tends to become a bit of a typecast in his music to a certain extent in as much as we can expect certain type of compositions from him in every movie, which in itself maybe his trademark but definitely is repetitive. The fault also lies with Movie directors and the Producers who sometimes have no or little knowledge about music and would want things that sell only and appeal to the new use and throw generation.
Anyway to conclude let us all refrain from typecasting this batch of young talent as clones of Legends Past and current and let them be and encourage them to develop their own unique styles which will help them be remembered years from when they have gone past their prime and for generations to come like we remember the greats and legends.
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