Archive for the ‘Music’ Category
Last night was the elimination night and Sudha Ragunathan was the chief guest. The contestants were supposed to sing a classical song which hasn’t featured in a film. Even though there were four singers to perform I always felt that it was between Prasanna and Vijay as they were the least trained members in the pack.
The night began with Ranjani who sang “Paalvadiyum Mugam” song and impressed the chief guest and the judges who praised her for her professional performance. Sudha Ragunathan said that Ranjani had a great voice and sang very well. Srinivas said that it was again a clinically effeciant performance from Ranjani. Sujatha and Unni pointed out some small things here and there but overall they liked her performance.
The second contestant of the night was Ajeesh. His was a good performance (I forgot the song though). Sudha Ragunathan said that Ajeesh has to work on his modulations a little bit as listening to him becomes a little bit boring after a while. She said that he has a great gift and is a natural but has to develop his talent a little bit. The judges felt the same and they said that it was a commendable effort from Ajeesh.
The next performance was from Prasanna. I was eagerly waiting for his performance as this was an out and out classical round. Prasanna though stunned everyone and gave a fantastic performance. Sudha Ragunathan praised him very much and said he had a great future. Prasanna was in tears when Sudha Ragunathan said those words. His performance was emotional and even moved the judges and the chief guest. All the judges praised him very much and said that he has to take some sort of music training as he is an excellent talent and has the right voice for play back singing.
The final performer of the night was Vijay and he sang a bajan. He said later that since he was currently getting trained in Hindustani music he decided to sing the same. The performance was really good and the chief guest praised his voice and she said that she liked his performance very much. The judges also felt the same and Srinivas told that Vijay needs more concentration as he feels that he is a good musician.
All the performances were complete and when finally the time for elimination came they decided to let Ranjani back with the other spot selected contestants as they felt that she gave good performances. So it was between Prasanna, Ajeesh and Vijay and the judges decided to not eliminate anyone this round as they felt that none of them performed badly enough to get eliminated. Sudha Ragunathan said that they can take the pointers from this show and implement it later in the show. So no eliminations and 7 people carry over to the next round. We have to wait till the next round to see who will get the next axe from the judges.
Anoop finally does it
Posted on: March 18, 2009
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Anoop gave a stunning performance yesterday and at last chose the right song. It was a fantastic performance and made all the four judges say that his was the best of the night.
This was good for Anoop as he was ordinary in the past couple of weeks and this was a good comeback. I am sure that he will be in the top 10 and hopefully will keep up the good work.
The classical round day 2 started with 4 singers yet to perform and I was mostly interested in seeing Prasanna perform. Since Prasanna and Vijay were only two people in the group who are not currently learning music.
The first singer of the evening was Ajeesh and he began by singing “Aadal Kalaiye” from Shri Raghavendra and did a great job. He sounded very well and his classical training came to the fore during his performance. The judges were impressed and even though they found few mistakes here and there over all they all liked it. Ajeesh unfortunately did not get spot selected.
The second singer of the night was Renu and she sang “Kanda Naal Mudhalai” song from Kanda Naal Mudhal movie and did a great job. The judges liked her performance very much and said that it was clean singing from Renu. Unni though gave her few variations in the end to sing which she wasn’t able to do so. But as the judges said that wouldn’t affect their judgment and spot selected her. Renu I guess has been little bit lucky with the selections as there have been better performances. I though Ajeesh did a very good job on a tough song and was unlucky. Anyways that’s my opinion.
The next contestant was Raghini and she sang a completely classical based song “Ellam Inbamayam” and gave a fantastic performance. The judges were little bit in shock I guess after her performance. Srinivas couldn’t believe that he has to spot select Raghini and gave her some light variations of the Raaga that her song was based on just to test her but she came out trumps. Raghini was spot selected and rightly so.
The final contestant of the day was Prasanna and Classical round for sure is not his strength. He sang a song from Kadhal Oviyam (forgot the song, if someone remembers please let me know) and gave an honest performance. The judges felt that his performance had the energy and force required for the song but he fell short in the classical part. He had lots of pitching problems and also struggled rendering the swaras. The Judges requested him to start learning music as they felt that he is an extremely talented singer. As expected earlier Prasanna did not get spot selected in the classical round.
Well so it is Prasanna, Ajeesh, Vijay and Ranjani who will be performing on day 3 of the classical round. They have to sing a classical song not featured in movies. I guess it will be between Vijay and Prasanna tonight. I guess one of them will not make it to the next round. Prasanna clearly struggled in the classical round and I will be surprised if it will be any different today. Only past performances might help him to get through if it comes down to that. Lets see tonight how it unfolds in non-filmy classical round.
American Idol Tonight
Posted on: March 17, 2009
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American Idol tonight and me cheering for Anoop again. I hope that he puts in a good performance tonight. He has to impress the judges with his song selection in tonight’s show.
They had chosen him as the extra member in the show based on his ability and personality. He for sure showed his personality in the last couple of rounds but fell way behind in the performance. I hope that he corrects the same.
Go Anoop Go!!
- In: Airtel Super Singer | General | Music | Reality Show | Television
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The classical round began yesterday with just 7 singers remaining in the competition. The contestants had to sing Classical based songs in the movies. If they are not spot selected then they would be have to sing a classical song which did not feature in movies. It was always going to be interesting as I thought that Ajeesh and Ravi would relish this round before it even began. I was more interested to see the performances from Vijay and Prasanna.
The first singer of the night was Ravi and as expected he gave a stunning performance. He sang “oru Naal Podhuma” song and he was brilliant. The judges absolutely loved it and so did I. Ravi was always expected to steal the show this round and as Srinivas pointed out this was his strength. Ravi has been one of the strongest contenders in Airtel super singer since the selection times. He is highly trained and can sing with flawless brilliance most of the time. Yesterday was yet another such performance from him. Even though there were little mistakes here and there pointed out by Unni and Sujatha he was rightly spot selected.
After a fantastic beginning to the evening the next singer was Ranjani. She had a hard act to follow but I thought did a commendable job with her rendition of “Kannodu Kanbadhelaam” from Jeans. The Judges felt that it was a good attempt but was nothing spectacular. Srinivas said that it was too much of a clinical performance from Ranjani and the song required little bit of wildness. Ranjani unfortunately was not spot selected.
The third singer of the evening was Vijay Narayanan. He was one of the singers I wanted to see last night. Vijay is an excellent singer and he is one singer who is not afraid of experimenting. He sang “Isaiyil Todunguthamma” from the movie Hey Ram. This is one of the toughest song to sing and has too many sangadhi’s one after the other without a break. The Judges felt that Vijay made a great attempt on a tough song. I felt that Vijay did a brilliant job. Sujatha felt that it would have suited Vijay better if he had chosen something more lighter. Even though the judges appreciated Vijay for his song selection and the attempt, he was unfortunately not spot selected.
Only three singers performing in 1 hour was little bit disappointing. I know that Vijay TV is trying to push the show to 3 days in a week and have 4 singers sing on the day2 but still it was something very irritating. The constant hamming of Malini Yugendran is something which is hard to take. I guess its unfortunate for the show that Chinmayi decided to pull out. Anyways four contestants left to perform and yet another interesting show ahead tonight.
- In: Airtel Super Singer | Music | Reality Show | Television
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The Airtel super singer classical round begins today for us in the US. The problem is that in the US Vijay TV is delayed by couple of weeks, so we get to see it late. So coming back to the classical round it will be an interesting one. This round will be bread and butter for someone like Ravi who we know relishes singing classical based songs but what about the others?
We are down to top 7 now so the singers should be able to handle any challenge thrown towards them. I think that the two singers who might have some issues would be Prasanna and Vijay Narayanan. I say Prasanna because he has just started learning music and probably would have some issues pulling off a complete classical song. I would expect him to choose a Semi-Classical song which might suit his voice. He is a fantastic singer and an entertainer and I would like to see him progress to top 6.
Vijay Narayanan though is lucky to be in this round as he was the weak singer in the B & W round and got through as Rohit pulled out. But I think that he will be one of the strong performers this week. He is classically trained and should be able to give a better performance than the last round. I expect Vijay to go through this time. But this depends on how the rest of the group performs.
Raghini is another singer who has been relatively inconsistent in the previous rounds. She again should not have any problems in the classical round as we have seen here giving some good performances in the past. I remember she was in the safe zone with Ravi singing a classical based song in the “Duet Round”.
Ranjani again should be finding this round to her liking and so will Renu. Both these singers are classically trained and should be able to pull of a classical based song quite well. Renu has to work on her breathing issue this round as it might work against her as the rest of the singers are pretty strong.
Ajeesh I guess will be one of the stronger singers in this round along with Ravi. I tip him to get spot selected along with Ravi as he is a very good singer. I saw the rushes of the program last week and saw him singing “Aadal Kalaiye” from the movie Raghavendra and was sounding very good.
All in all this is going to be yet another riveting 3 days. This is the Top 7 of 2008 and we should expect a very close competition. I am sure that the judges will have a tough time eliminating any of the contestants. I think that Sudha Ragunathan is the chief guest of the show which will give some jitters to the contestants. Let’s hope that the best six contestants make it to the next round.
Anoop gets through
Posted on: March 12, 2009
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Anoop made it through to the next round yesterday but chose another wrong song on Tuesday. The judges were clearly not that happy and he recieved very bad comments from all the judges even from Paula. Anoop has to really pull up his socks if he has to remain in this competition.
I am afraid till now he seems to be going the Sanjaya way. I hope that he stays in this competition through his ability rather than his popularity. He should choose the right songs to suit his voice and should perform better if he has to avoid elimination. Lets hope that he does that in the next round.
Airtel Super Singer
Posted on: March 12, 2009
Airtel Super singer is finally reaching the business end of the show. After meandering aimlessly for the past few weeks they have finally got back to the serious competition. The Super Singer is one of the better talent hunt shows in Tamil. I have watched few other channels trying to ape the concept but have pretty boring versions. The SunTv’s “Adhiradi Singer” is one of the worst in the pack. For some reason I am unable to watch that show in spite of my undying love for music.
Coming back to the super singer, I am happy that they have finally returned to the serious competition and the countdown for the best singer of the year 2008 has begun. The show for a while was making no sense to me. Yeah I can understand the recall round as all the reality/talent shows on Indian television have that concept but bringing back 4 singers was little bit over the top. The top 6 singers were already identified and probably adding two more singers from the recall round would have been appropriate.
Well currently they have 8 singers left and the funny part is that the two singers who got eliminated were the ones recalled. The reason for this show to stand out from the rest is their judges. Srinivas, Sujatha and Unnikrishnan are legends in their own right and are great singers. Most often the comments are measured and they give proper suggestions to the singers. They strictly stick to music rather than stupid antics to increase TRP’s for the show.
Airtel super singer for sure is one of my favorite programs on television. Well my Favorites in Top eight are Prasanna, Ravi and Ajeesh. I am fine with Rohit, Raghini and Vijaya Narayanan but I don’t think that they will win the competition. Anyways let’s see how the competition shapes up this week. I just feel that they have brought the four contestants back into the show only to eliminate them one by one, as we saw in the last couple of weeks. Already Hari and Aruna have been eliminated and for some reason Renu seems to stick on after mediocre performances just because the judge’s think that she has a good voice.
Well let’s hope that the show now moves on fast and there are no breaks in between as it has dragged around enough to get the viewers frustrated.
This was the day of elimination and had three contestants fighting to survive the same. Manorama Aachi and PBS were gone and we had LR Easwari amma as the chief guest on the third day. She enthralled the viewers with her legendry songs such as “Kaadhodu Thaan”, “Lovely Birds” and also her version of “Ketukodi Urimi Melam”. She was very insightful and was all praise for Ravi and Prasanna.
The program started with Ravi singing yet another classical song and was appreciated by everyone. The comments also were not that serious as this was just a guest performance by Ravi. Srinivas though felt that Ravi could have probably sung a different genre as he had already sung classical based song in the main round.
The first contestant of the night was Vijay Narayanan and he chose to sing “Paatu padava” from Thaen Nilavu. The song was good at parts and the ending was excellent. Overall it was an average performance from Vijay, considering this was a elimination round. The judges gave him good comments but it was by no means a great performance.
The second singer was Prasanna and he decided to sing a melody a genre which he has not often attempted in this competition. He did a fabulous job with the same. LR Easwari amma enjoyed it very much and so did the judges. Sujatha actually said that if Prasanna had sung this in the first round he would not have been here. Prasanna has improved by leaps and bounds during the course of this competition and is one of the most consistent singers among the pack.
Finally when the time came for Rohit to perform Malini and Yugendran revealed that he will not be able to make it as he has pulled out of the competition. The reason cited for him pulling out was his academics and attendance in college. A video message was played with Ravi apologizing to the judges who clearly didn’t seem that happy. Rohit’s father though came on stage and apologized to the judges and the audience. The judges were disappointed as they felt that they could have selected Aruna instead in the previous round as it was so close.
I feel that Rohit did what he needed to do and what he felt was important for his future. Best of luck to him and hope he does not stop singing. Vijay Narayanan got a lucky break this week as he escaped from elimination due to Rohit pulling out. He seems the most likely candidate for elimination though. Anyways we have 7 singers now and the race for super singer hots up.
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The Black & White round day 2 was interesting with some surprise performances. First PBS was missing today even though Manorama Aachi was still there viewing the performances. Already there were two spot selections from day 1 and day 2 had 5 performances in the offing.
The first performance of the day was Vijay Narayanan. His was a very inconsistent performance. I just felt that his pitch was all over the place when he started but later on he picked up. The judges felt the same and rightly he wasn’t spot selected. I guess Vijay has to do something about his “Sruthi” if he has to progress in this competition and currently looks like the one to receive the axe in this round unless he does something spectacular tonight.
The second performance of the day was Raghini. I just feel that Raghini is always a hit or Miss Singer but yesterday she gave a stellar performance with the “Elandha Pazham” song and the judges loved it. The good thing about her performance last night was that she was smiling throughout her performance and also after it. The Judges and Manorama Aachi were really impressed with her version of the song. She was spot selected two rounds in a row which is impressive if we take into account that she was mostly in the final two before the recall. It seems like Raghini is improving. This is a good thing as it will help her to go further in this competition.
The third performer of the day was Ravi who was in his elements yesterday. He sang a classical based song yesterday which we know is a meat and drink for someone with the caliber of Ravi. He absolutely mesmerized the judges and the chief guest of this show Manorama Aachi, who stood up and applauded Ravi’s performance. It was a brilliant performance from him. I am positive that I saw some tears coming down from Srinivas’s eyes yesterday. Even though Ravi got spot selected Unnikrishnan requested him to perform on the third day too.
The fourth performance of the day was Ranjani who gave a good performance. She sang a song which was perfect for her voice and pulled it off brilliantly. The judges liked it and she was through to the next round to join Ajeesh, Renu, Raghini and Ravi.
It seems like Rohit was unable to come in yesterday due to some unforeseen circumstances, the judges said that he can perform with Prasanna and Vijay on the third day. That ended the show last night and without doubt the performer of the day was Ravi.
I am not sure who will get eliminated today but I am guessing it will be someone between Vijay and Rohit. Lets wait and see.
girisopinion
My Thoughts 