I desperately needed to win: Vipul Mehta

Kavita Awaasthi, Hindustan Times
As we predicted on August 23, budding singer Vipul Mehta from Amritsar, won season six of the reality show, Indian Idol, on Saturday night. Thrilled to bits, the young artiste says, “I desperately needed to win. I was trying to make it in the music industry, and Indian Idol has given me the
perfect platform. Now, all the hard work, support from the audience and jury has finally paid off. I have waited for this moment for years. I am on cloud nine.”

Vipul was awarded a cash prize of R50 lakh, along with a car and a motorcycle. He plans to gift the car to his 83-year-old grandfather. “He has been a huge support and has a sacrificed a lot for me. When I wanted to try my luck as a singer in Mumbai, he stayed with me, accompanied me to my music lessons and cooked for me as well,” he says.

However, his grandfather couldn’t make it for the grand finale. “The audience has no place to sit and I didn’t want him to stand for hours. So he stayed back in Amritsar and watched the show live along with my other family members and friends.”

Vipul’s plans also include buying a car and a studio for himself. But for now, he is just looking forward to taking a break and celebrating his victory with his friends.In the near future, the 22-year-old will also shift base to Mumbai from Amritsar to pursue a career as a playback singer. Ask him if he is worried about getting forgotten, like most winners on the show in the past have, and he says, “Abhijeet Sawant is very popular and has many projects in hand. After Indian Idol, you have to chart your career carefully. Winning is not the end of the road. I will have to utilise this victory and make a place for myself in the industry.”

Discards make it to Indian Idol 5

Anu Malik proudly claimed that this years Indian Idol will lay emphasis on the ‘V factor’. Indian Idol’s resident judge acknowledged that the show faced such criticism in the past, but this year they’ve managed to unearth 17 singers who’ve made it to the competition purely on the merit of their voice.

While there’s no disputing their quality, as many as five contestants in Indian Idol 5 have made their appearance in a reality show before.

29-year-old Vishwas Rai of Allahabad appeared on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005, Shashi Suman(Patna) and Manisha Karmakar (Kolkata) participated on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2009, Ludhiana’s Arvind Gujral was part of Sony’s Waar Parriwar. Delhi’s Yashraj Kapil won the unheralded show Choona Hai Aasmaan that aired on the now defunct Real TV.

Inevitably questions were raised as to what is the merit in having reality show discards (except Yashraj) in Indian Idol. Shouldn’t such a show encourage just raw talent? Judges Anu Malik and Salim Merchant were quick to defend the presence of these contestants.

“The judges have chosen these 17 contestants purely on their singing ability. We’ve said that this year, it’s the V Factor that we’re looking at. When these contestants came to perform, we weren’t aware of their history. Even if they’ve appeared elsewhere, don’t they deserve a second chance if their singing has improved? We found them to be good enough singers to make it to the final 17.” said Merchant.

Anu Malik adds, “At every audition, we were having thousands of applicants. They get barely few minutes to impress the judges. Then we don’t ask them about their history. We had few former Indian Idol contestants too for the auditions but they weren’t selected as they didn’t sing well. Voice is the sole merit for selection. Besides, I’d like to point out that the rules state that you need to be in the age group of 14-29 to participate in our show. Rules don’t bar a former reality show contestant to appear in our show“

We agree with the two judges but the issue here is not their voice but how can you have these guys as Indian Idols when Indians themselves didn’t voted for four of them in those shows. Yashraj Kapil may have won Choona Hai Aasmaan, but the only time the show made news was when he fought with a female contestant, who accused the guy of bitching about her. Apparently, before this spat, the two were caught cozying to each other on camera. Now, such tainted figure certainly doesn’t deserve to be Indian Idol.

To be fair to Kapil, that footage appeared to be scripted. Despite their reality show experience, if these five contestants have improved as singers, they deserve to be on Indian Idol.

Sunidhi wants to be a mentor on Indian Idol 5

Singer Sunidhi Chauhan who is one of the new judges on the Indian Idol 5, along with Anu Malik and Salim Merchant, wants the prospective singers coming on the show to be able to use every shade of their voices to be successful in the industry where there is tough competition.

Sunidhi wants to lay the emphasis on only the voice quality of the contestants, as opposed to the ‘complete package’ that the earlier seasons of the show have focused on. She feels that if a contestant is at ease singing genres like jazz, contemporary or classical, they will be able to carve a niche for themselves in the industry. Abhijeet Sawant, the winner of Indian Idol season 1, has his own recognition among the public.

The singer wants to be a good judge and help people find their true calling rather than humiliate them, like on a lot of reality shows. She hopes to be a good mentor. Sunidhi states that she has never harbored the dream of becoming an actress some day. She clarifies that she is a singer and would always like to remain a singer.

We suppose the contestants of ‘Indian Idol 5’ can breathe easy as they have Sunidhi. All they need to show is their talent and they’ll be fine.

Indian Idol 5 looking for playback voice not star

By Press Trust of India
For last four seasons, Indian Idol has been looking for a "complete package", a perfect mix of voice, looks and the "X factor" but not this time. 

The music reality show, in its fifth year, is back to basics this time as it searches for the perfect playback singing voice.

Indian Idol 5 judges Anu Malik, Sunidhi Chauhan and Salim Merchant, all well known names in the music industry, are scouting for "a voice that touches million hearts" which might not necessarily have a star quality.

Sunidhi, who will also debut on the small screen with the show said that she is looking for excellence in voice, one that can sing anything from 'Ghazhal' to 'Rock' on the show which will be telecast from April 26.

"Our focus this time is to find perfect playback voice. People have been complaining that in the process of finding a complete package, we sometimes have neglected that unique voice. So this time we are looking for a competent singer," said Sunidhi.

The winners of the last seasons like, Abhijeet Sawant, Sandeep Acharya, Prashant Tamang, Sourabhee Debbarma went through a total makeover from tip to toe, with designer clothes and funky hairstyles but this time not much attention will be given to the grooming.

"This time grooming will not be a major part of the show. First the contestant should be an extraordinary singer then we'll see how he/she can be groomed," Sunidhi, 26, said.

"We have a blind singer this time, who sings so well that we did not even notice her personality. And I am sure she will go further. She'll be requiring a lot of hard work but this time we will support her till the end," she added. 

The shift in the focus can be traced in the popularity level of past winners. They may have had their private albums coming but then the looming question is what next? And there can't be a bigger platform then Bollywood playback singing which is a more secure career.

Sunidhi's co-judge at the show, Salim of the famous Salim-Suleiman music composer duo, could not agree less.

Salim feels that Bollywood singers today have a global appeal, which makes it a perfect option for the budding artistes.

"If you see, we really don't have a music industry here. We majorly have Bollywood music and it is becoming huge day-by-day. Look at A R Rahman after Slumdog Millionaire.

Musicians from different countries want to collaborate with

us. So why not find a extraordinary playback singer who can have the best of both worlds," said Salim, who is judging a reality show for the first time.

"Moreover, the good part is that we are having a lot of experimentation in film music these days giving singers more opportunities to be versatile," he added.

The show bosses are claiming that they have received about one lakh applications this time from big metros to small towns and the judges have already shortlisted 17 out of them who will be presented to the viewers.

However, this time, apart from people's vote, judges verdict will also play major part.

"This time our opinion will be collaborated with the people's vote and then only we'll come to final conclusion about a contestant. Many a times it has happened that a deserving candidate could not garner enough vote and was finally chucked. That would not happen this time," Salim said.