Not my Idol

Talent search is a rage these days. The bug has caught on.. all the general entertainment channels are going over board to choose the next big singing superstar. Though not very inclined towards music as dont understand the nuances of singing .. I still happen to watch " Indian Idol" once in a while simply due it packaging. The first thing that strikes me is the hype and hoopla around these shows.There seems to be little attention on singing but more on the style and look of the contestants, naturally given that most of them come from small towns. Another point which fails me is how is this a pan india contest considering that that all the constestants are expected to sing fluently on hindi film songs. What happens to the regional languages ?

Indian Idiol is in its third season and I am as curious to know as other viewers as to what happened to the past two winners. They are hardly heard or seen. They were supposed to be the next big superstars , what happened to them is as a good guess. In this era of crass commercialisation what counts is the how much money can be made my monetizing the eyeballs. Voting by SMS itself has become a big industry. The on screen fights between the judges, the accolades given to the contestants, new celebrity guests every week etc seem very clearly tailor made as per rehearsed script. Some how I dont trust Sony in any of its reality shows as the eliminations/winners are clearly rigged going by the past winners of its shows. I remember there was to be a show called "Fame Gurukul" - both the winners even after so much grooming did not how to sing where the more deserving ones were kicked out earlier. Why cant the channels give out exact number of votes received by each contestant every week ? Its so tempting to rename the program as " IDiot Idol"

I have never ventured to watch either the VOI or Sa re ga ma pa. They seem to be too over board and crass- just looking at the clothes of the contestants will an idea. Any person who is remotely connected with the hindi film music industry now qualified to become a judge. Excepting couple of voices and that too ages ago .. nothing worth while has come out. I fail to understand that what is the average viewer wants in these shows which keeps them going season after season.