Here’s what I felt of the debut episode of Indian Idol this season…
Indian Idol Junior has been one of the most loved reality shows on TV. The show, which brings forward singing talents from across India, started its second season just today, and this season they have something special for the kids. As you all must have been awaiting Sonakshi Sinha’s debut on the small screen, I too were pretty excited about the same. However, that didn’t happen!
Highlights:
-Contestants: The enormous amount of talent that is spread across India is mind blowing and this show just manages to tap that potential from all over. Contestants came up for auditions from the farthest of corners. Some of them were really great singers, and having such talent at such an early age left me spell bound. However, there was something that irked me. For all of you who don’t know, there is one round of singing auditions outside in the auditorium and only once you clear that are you allowed to enter in and perform in front of the main judges. Some of the contestants were not at all singing well, but they were on TV. How come? I feel these lot were on ‘sympathy quota’. There were contestants who came in and said stories like “I travel 130 kms everyday to go to my singing classes”. Then there was a contestant who had got burnt in his childhood and it seemed that ‘that’ was the only fact of him getting a chance to be on TV. Guess makers want to increase their TRPs by gaining audience sympathy.
-Judges: Vishal Dadlani, Salim Merchant and Shalmali Kholgade were decent enough. None of them was too lenient on the contestants. However, once all the three started crying and showed a very emotional side of themselves. They promised to fund a contestant’s full education expenses. It was a noble deed to do. But what I couldn’t figure out was if they liked the contestant so much why not take him in the competition and train him under their guidance. At least in that way he will be able to live a dream that he has been dreaming since childhood.
-Sonakshi Sinha: This season’s catch element is Sonakshi Sinha’s entry. However, she wasn’t present during the auditions stage. She will join the other judges as soon as the gala rounds start. She will replace Shalmali and give her opinion on the performers. We’ve also heard that Sonakshi will make her singing debut on the show – which will be something to watch out for. Her absence was felt majorly by the contestants. But she made up for it by coming online for a video chat with the selected contestants. The kids were so excited that they even sang and dedicated a song to Sona baby.
-The hosts: Asha Negi made her debut as a host today. But she was hardly there. Neither was the other host Hussain Kuwajerwala present that much today. The little time they were there they did manage to entertain the kids, the judges and the audience. I am sure once the gala rounds start and they get more screen time, it will be fun watching their chemistry onstage.
-Music: The quality of music on the show was definitely good. Contestants had come with really good training and expertise. Some of them could play musical instruments like Guitar and all. As kids you expect their voices to be shrill. There definitely were some who blasted our ears by their vocals, but there were many others whose velvety voices were something that I would like to hear throughout the season. Some kids were adept in classical singing and it was seen in their choices of songs. They were the real masters of the auditions.
All in all a pretty balanced enough show of Indian Idol Junior 2. Nothing too bad. Everything pretty good till now. I hope, once the gala round starts, the reality show will grow more and more interesting and above all I will be able to treat myself to one and a half hours of soulful music.