Archive for the ‘General’ Category
- In: Cricket | Cricket and Sports | General | IPL
- 1 Comment
As I write this article, CSK have just thumped DC to register their 3rd consecutive victory in IPL2 to move to top position in the table. The last one week has been brilliant for BRC and CSK as they have shrugged of the indifferent form to get back into the tournament. This IPL is much closer than last year and it seems like any of the 7 teams (KKR excluded) can make it to the Semi-Finals.
This was a disappointing week for the Deccan Chargers as they have had 3 poor games in a row now. Their batting has failed and their fielding also has let them down. Dropped catches and misfields have cost them dearly in the last few games. Delhi Daredevils have also had couple of losses in a row now. Their batting let them down on both the occasions.
Sehwag and Ghambir haven’t fired yet for them and that is costing DD a lot in IPL 2. DD though would be really happy with the debut of Australian David Warner as he made a brilliant 50 against the CSK over the weekend.
The other team on the rise is BRC. BRC were the worst team in the first edition but this time they seem to have found the right combination. They thrashed Mumbai Indians by 9 wickets yesterday to register their 3rd consecutive win and fourth overall to reach the top 4. Kallis seems to be in great form and with Dravid back in the side and Boucher firing in the middle order they seem to be serious contenders for the semi-finals spot. Uthappa also came back to form with a brilliant 60 odd against the Mumbai Indians.
Mumbai Indians and RR though have had mixed results over the last one week and are also in the running for the semi-finals spot with 3 wins and 3 losses. MI had their batting to blame against the BRC yesterday and it seems like they rely too much on Sachin and Jayasuriya to give them a good start. Kings X1 Punjab have also had a good tournament so far after losing their first 2 games. They have won 4 out of the next 5 games which puts them at 2 spot currently on the table behind CSK.
KKR are languishing at the bottom of the table and have had another poor week. They haven’t won any games in the past week and look like the only team who don’t have any chance of making it to the Semis. Their biggest problem has been their batting. Ganguly and Mccullum have been the biggest offenders. Brad Hodge has been consistent and with Chris Gayle going back to resume his National duties, it’s going to get tougher for them. The good news though for them is that David Hussey might be back for them this week as Aussies have wrapped up the ODI series against the Pakistanis.
There will be few Aussies who will return to join their franchises this week. Brett Lee will join Kings X1 and Shane Watson will join the RR. These two will be the biggest in terms of the effect they can have on their respective teams. Shane Watson is in brilliant batting form and is a good bowler and his return will give Shane Warne a big relief.
All in all it’s been another brilliant week of cricket with lots of close games. I am happy as my team CSK is doing great.
- In: Airtel Super Singer | Entertainment | General | Music | Reality Show | Television
- 1 Comment
Second day of the wild card round finished yesterday and it seems like there is very little to separate the contestants. Vijay TV’s gimmick continued yesterday as the rest of the three singers also had their admirers coming in with the gifts.
The first performer of the evening was Vijay and he sang “Athiradee” from Sivaji and it was a brilliant performance. It is a difficult song and tough to sing on stage leave alone a competition. Vijay gave a brilliant performance and rocked the stage. Vijay once again showed that he is a versatile singer and can sing any type of song with lots of energy and grace. The judges liked the performance and Srinivas called this round as Vijay’s territory.
The second singer was Santosh and like on the first night with Ranjani and Vijay, he had his admirer/supporter coming in with a gift. It was Malgudi Subha who came in and praised Santosh and gave reasons as to why she wanted to support him and handed over the gift to him. Santosh then sang “Ennadi Muniyamma” song and gave a fantastic performance. He had lots of energy in his performance and was brilliant in the way he was enjoying and performing at the same time. The judges enjoyed his performance and called it brilliant and rocking.
The third singer was Ranjani who sang “Enaatha Solvenungo” song from Sivakasi and gave a decent performance. It was a good performance and compared to the previous two singers before her I would call this as just okay and nothing great. The Judges though felt that it was brilliant and there was the honorary mention of “Porale Ponnuthayi” from Srinivas.
The next singer of the evening was Raghini who had Deepak (Jodi No1 fame) coming in and wishing her good luck and giving her a gift. Raghini sang “kaana Karunguyile” from Sethu and did a brilliant job. She is very good in this type of songs and she nailed it yesterday with another fantastic performance. It has been two consecutive good performances from Raghini this week. The judges said that it was brilliant and one of Raghini’s best till date. Unnikrishnan said that Raghini has a good future in play back singing as she has a unique voice. I like Raghini and I don’t mind her reaching the finals.
The final contestant of the night was Prasanna and he had DD (Again Jodi No1 fame) coming in and giving him a gift. Prasanna sang “Sorgam Madhuvile” and as usual gave a brilliant performance. He is always fantastic and yesterday he was just great. It seemed like he was trying not to imitate the original very hard, which threw him off at couple of places in terms of pitch but overall it was another rocking performance from Prassi. The judges liked the performance and that ended the show yesterday.
The second day was much better than the first and the singers seemed to have warmed up to the occasion. It was a brilliant night and I hope that it continues on the third day too. That’s all for now and I will be back with the review of the third day tomorrow.
It has been an incredible 2 months for me as my blog as of today completed 5000 views and also crossed 50 comments. I was so thrilled couple of months back that I completed 1000 views but the last 2 months have been phenomenal. I thank all of you who thought reading my blog as a worthwhile exercise and I hope that you people keep coming back.
Thanks to everyone and it’s been just over a year and I have also posted my 100th article today. Its been fantastic year for me. Thanks to everyone.
DD and DC rule in IPL 2
Posted on: April 28, 2009
- In: Cricket | Cricket and Sports | General | IPL
- Leave a Comment
IPL 2 is in its second week now and as I write this article DD are playing RR in their 5th game. Well it cannot get more contrasting for the last year’s champions as they are struggling to find their magic. The Rajasthan Royals led by Shane Warne have found winning hard this year and have struggled with their batting. The tournament has been similar for the last year’s finalists Chennai Super Kings too. For them it’s been their bowling which has deserted them this year. They have had couple of close losses but still languish somewhere near the bottom of the table along with RR, and BRC.
Royal Challengers though continued their horrible run this year too. Yeah they started with a win over RR this year contrary to their start in IPL 1 but since then it has been downhill for KP’s side. KKR too have been ordinary this year and found winning tough. Buchanan’s multiple captain theory received lots of flack from the media and experts and did not help the team spirit I guess. Their over reliance on Chris Gayle and Dada was clearly evident in the first few games.
The biggest improvement of this year has been the Deccan Chargers who have found the right combination at last. They were at the bottom last year with the BRC but are leading the table this year after the first 4 games. Their batting lead by their captain Gilchrist is clicking and their bowling led by RP Singh is doing great. They have been brilliant till now in the competition and have posted good wins till now.
Delhi Daredevils have also been brilliant this year and have continued their good form from last year. Their batting has been brilliant and their bowling has been okay defending their totals. Devilliers and Dilshan have been their stars till now in the competition. It seems like them along with DC will be in the Semi-Finals this year.
Finally Kings X1 Punjab have had mixed results in this year’s competition. Semi-Finalists last year started off with two losses in IPL 2 but won their last two games to end up behind the top two. They have a good side too with Yuvraj, Sangakkara and Mahela forming the crux of their middle order.
Well all in all the bowlers have found it easy on the South African pitches and the batting has not been that easy. The fact that there have been no 200+ score till now in the competition says a lot about the pitches which have been good cricketing surfaces. Targets of 130 have been successfully defended and have made this year’s competition interesting for the viewers.
The oldies have come to the party in SA. Warne, Kumble, Hayden, Sachin, Dravid, Gilchrist have all made significant contributions to their respective teams breaking the notion of T20 being young man’s version. All in all IPL 2 has been fantastic with closer games and fantastic crowds. Hope the same continues in the coming weeks.
- In: Entertainment | General | Music | Reality Show | Television
- Leave a Comment
As I expected Anoop was eliminated last week along with Lil. I was really surprised to see that Matt was safe and Allison ended up in the bottom 2 along with Anoop. It seemed inevitable for Anoop though as he had ended up in bottom 3 for three consecutive weeks before this and the case was similar for Lil too.
As soon as Allison and not Matt ended up with Anoop in the bottom 2 I knew that it’s Anoop’s turn to leave the competition. It has been an incredible journey for Anoop and he made it to the top 6 which was a brilliant effort by any standards. Well as for me it takes a little bit of interest out of this year’s AI. Anyways good luck to Anoop and hope he does not give up singing.
- In: Airtel Super Singer | Entertainment | General | Music | Reality Show | Television
- 3 Comments
So the wild card round got underway last night here and it was good. I wouldn’t call it spectacular though. It was melody round and the singers probably were just getting the feel of it. Santosh especially would have been little bit rusty as he was the one eliminated long time back.
The judges were there as usual and the hosts Malini and Yugendran started the show in their usual style. I don’t understand the need to walk through the tunnel after every break, anyways that’s me. Well the evening began with Santosh and this is the first time in Airtel Super Singer the verdict will be based on the viewer votes rather than the decision from the judges.
Santosh started the melody round with “Thendrale” song from Kadhal Desam and he gave a good performance. We can excuse him for being little rusty. The judges liked his performance and Sujatha said that she liked the innocence in his voice.
The next performer was Ranjani. Well before she could sing there was a surprise waiting for her as Mahati came in to praise Ranjani and handed over a gift to her. She said that Ranjani was her favorite contestant in the competition. I am not sure if this was genuine or Vijay TV’s way of promoting their favorite contestant. Anyways that’s beside the point. Once that was done Ranjani sang the sad version of “Porale Ponnuthayi” from Karuthamma and gave a good performance. The judges called it her best performance till date and Sujatha went one step further and said that it got tears to her eyes. I felt it was a good performance and nothing spectacular. I for sure did not have tears in my eyes.
The third performer of the day was Prasanna and my favorite contestant in the competition. He sang “Iyappa saranam Iyappa” (I am not sure which movie the song was from) song and gave a very good performance. Even though I wouldn’t call it brilliant, I wouldn’t rate it below Ranjani’s performance either. The Judges though seemed to be jealous of Prasanna’s popularity or something. It was really irritating as the judges instead of commenting on the singer’s performance, kept saying how popular he has become with the audience. This was unnecessary as every competition will throw one contestant who will be liked by the public. Anyways Prasanna gave a good performance and told the judges that he was trying to get himself out of the entertainer mould about which the judges were complaining before he got eliminated. When Prasanna said that it seemed like Unnikrishnan and Srinivas felt a little bit embarrassed.
The next performer of the night was Raghini and she sang “Siva Rathiri” from MMKR and gave a brilliant performance I thought. The judges felt the same and told that it was a brave song choice. Sujatha said that she would have found it difficult to sing such a song in concerts and praised Raghini for singing it on stage. They said it was a good performance.
The final contestant of the night was Vijay and Uma Padmanaban came to wish him and praise him for his performances in the competition like Mahati did for Ranjani. She also handed him a gift. Once the Vijay TV gimmick was over Vijay sang “Oru poyavathu sol” from Jodi and gave a decent performance. The judges felt the same and praised him for the improvisations but also said that he had some pitching problems throughout the song.
So that was that for the wild card round day one. All the singers gave a good performance on day one and I hope that the trend continues on day 2 too. I will be back with the review again as usual after day 2.
Tonight is the wild card round here in the US and I am eagerly waiting for the same. Prasanna is back and I am really happy about it. I guess he shouldn’t have been out in the first place. Anyways coming back to today’s wild card round, it’s going to be between Prasanna, Vijay, Raghini, Santosh and Ranjani.
This time its not the judges who will be choosing the finalist but the audience will. I am thinking considering the popularity Prasanna has among the viewers it should be him but you never know what these votes come up with. Even though I want Prasanna back I wouldn’t mind Santosh, Vijay or Raghini making it to the finals either. All the five of them are very good singers and I hope that it’s going to be a great three days.
It seems like an eternity before Santosh was eliminated from the competition and here he is back again to have one more shot at the Airtel Super Singer crown. Prasanna and Raghini were ones recently eliminated, so I assumed that they will for sure be there in the Wild card round. Let’s hope that the competition is tough and let the best contestant go forward.
I personally will be rooting for Prasanna and hopefully he gets through.
Finally I got to see who the wild card contestants were in Airtel super singer yesterday. I knew that Prasanna and Raghini would be there as they were the last ones to get eliminated before the Semi-Finals but I was more interested in finding out the third. The judges threw in lots of names and the two which came regularly were Santosh and Aruna.
So each judge could get one contestant back in the competition and the first one was Srinivas. He chose to review Aruna and Santosh and after reviewing a few tapes, he decided to go with Santosh for the wild card round. I guess it was a good choice as Santosh is a very good singer and a great character on the stage. He will for sure entertain the crowd next week.
The next was Sujatha who did not deliberate too much before announcing Prasanna as her choice. I am really happy for Prasanna as he gets a chance to perform again and this time with a chance to go to the finals. I am guessing with the audience in charge he has very good chance of making it.
Finally it was Unni’s turn and he deliberated between Aruna and Raghini, reviewed few tapes and finally chose to go with Raghini. So that was that and we have our 5 wild card entrants. I guess this week’s show was little bit boring and unnecessary as I did not see a point in having a show to profile the finalists so early. Since there is going to be another finalist added pretty soon they should have had this before the finals. Now there is an unwanted break before the Wild card which was uncalled for and this is where I get irritated with Airtel Super Singer. I guess a talent show going on for 1 year is a bit much I think but that’s just my opinion. Anyways I got my wish as Prasanna makes it to the wild card and now I hope that he makes it to the finals though.
I don’t mind if Santosh or Vijay end up in the finals either. So it’s going to be an interesting wild card round with lots of my favorites being there. I will for sure enjoy next week’s show.
- In: Airtel Super Singer | Entertainment | General | Music | Reality Show | Television
- 39 Comments
So the Airtel Super Singer semifinals completed last night and Renu, Ajeesh and Ravi went through to the finals directly. It was a very close competition and the top 3 were just separated by 1 point from each other. Renu finishing on top was a bit of a shocker for me personally, even though I thought that she will make it to the finals.
I was hoping Ravi or Ajeesh to finish in the top spot. Renu did a good job over the past three days but yet again she was monotonous. All the songs were the same type and I thought the others at least tried something different. Vijay did not have a good time in the Semi-finals. His song choices except for the last one were odd and he had some issues with the vocals too.
Ranjani did pretty well in the semi finals and was really close to the top 3 until Unni revealed his scores. I was already convinced even before the semi-finals started that Ranjani and Vijay would be the ones eliminated. Renu got really high scores in all rounds even though Ravi and Ajeesh sang pretty well in comparison.
Anyways it seems like Vijay and Ranjani have to battle it out for the one spot in the wild card round next week. I am not sure who will be joining them in the wild card round. I am thinking Prasanna and Raghini but I can’t be sure until I see the previews for the next week’s show.
Anyways we have our three finalists decided and it wasn’t that much of a surprise. I just hope that we have Prasanna in the wild card and he gets selected for the finals. Let’s see how the wild card round goes and I will be for sure be back with the updates from the same.
Airtel Super Singers – Semi Finals
Posted on: April 13, 2009
- In: Airtel Super Singer | Entertainment | General | Music | Reality Show | Television
- 3 Comments
Semi Finals this week and its going to be predictable I feel. I already saw some promos and it seems like the top three are Ajeesh, Ravi and Renu and I guess those are the three who for sure will go through to the finals. The elimination is going to be between Vijay and Ranjani. That’s the predictability of Airtel Super Singer as the decision is still in the hands of the judges.
I personally think that Renu doesn’t deserve to win the competition and so should not be in the finals. To be frank the best 3 singers are the male contestants and I would place Ranjani ahead of Renu just for her ability to sing different genres. But the problem is that the judges don’t think so. When I was seeing the Promos on Vijay Tv, it seems like the top three are Ajeesh, Ravi and Renu and this gives us a peek into the judge’s thinking.
Anyways it seems like Renu will for sure be through to the finals if there are going to be more than 2 finalists. I would prefer that the judges test her really hard and at least in the finals they should have three separate rounds making the contestants sing different genres with melody not being one of them. Hopefully this week will be good but I am not that interested regarding the outcome as my favorite is already eliminated.
girisopinion
My Thoughts 