HT Style - shaadi singers or stars

(Article in Todays HT Style - Mumbai Edition - front page)

SOUND BITES

Everyone wants to become an overnight star, with SMS' and not talent deciding the winners at singing contests and talent hunts JAGJIT SINGH Such singers will come and go like so many others before them, it takes a lot to reach the level of a Sonu Nigam or Shaan AADESH SRIVASTAVA From nine to 10 shows in the beginning our frequency of performances has already come down to four-five a week now QAZI TOUQUEER E ven as the second season of Indian Idol draws to an end amid much hoopla; Ruprekha and Qazi still remain fondly etched in our memory nearly six months after they were declared the Fame Jodi. Meanwhile, Debojit of the SaReGaMaPa Challenge 2005, (which saw an almost communal division only seen in election-time UP), is still a topic of conversation a month later.

They became household names; each episode of the musi cal reality show, a news item in itself. Yet, as yet another Indian Idol – whose format, based on Freemantle's American Idol, pioneered the interactive voting for musical reality show last year – hypes up its last few remaining contestants, the question needs to be asked. Are these Musical Reality Show Sensations the new beauty pageant contestants?

After that smiley-smiley moment on stage, close-ups of the winner weeping with emotion, does life after the big moment become a parody of what the promise held? Unlike American Idol contestants who are signing up movie deals and winning Grammies, for their counterparts on Indian TV, is it a life far less interesting than what it may seem?

What, for instance, do you think the various channel's singing 'discoveries' up to? Cutting albums, recording songs for leading film banners, playback to the likes of a Shah Rukh, Hrithik or Aishwarya, winning laurels for their talent, beyond the nonhome-channel platforms, right?

Well, not exactly! In reality, they are singing everywhere and literally anywhere — stage shows, TV soap shaadis, store inaugurations, mall anniversaries, club gigs, jingles, private parties and wedding receptions. From the North-east to Kenya and from Bangladesh to Mauritius, they're all making hay while the sun shines, till the next batch of competing glory seekers surfaces.

Abhijeet does 10 to 15 shows a week, but Prajakta Sukre reels in less than five. The frequency and earnings (Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 25,000 per show) are proportional to how they fared on the show. Finalists also hit the concert bandwagon, for one never knows how soon the new batch will start chewing into that well orchestrated PR pie. Says Fame Jodi's male draw, Qazi Touqueer, "From nine to 10 shows in the beginning our frequency of performances has already come down to four-five a week now." Who gets what Abhijeet Sawant – Rs 3-3.5 lakh/show Debojit – Rs 3-3.5 lakh/ show Qazi Touqueer-Ruprekha Deb – Rs 2.5-3 lakh/show *Figures are approximate