The Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Show

Being musically inclined, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is the only TV show that I watch with random regularity and I can follow how individual participants are performing. Oh, and yes I started my music lessons again . Remember once I mentioned my old recalcitrant guruji who is over 70? After taking his classes it was not possible for me to go to another teacher. Although he sometimes irritates me but I think he’s the best teacher I have ever come across. Coming back to the TV program.

The final event turned out to be a real damp squib. Nobody was expecting Aneek Dhar to win. Of course no doubt be deserved to be among the top three but he was no way the first runners up stuff. Either Amanat or Raja Hasan should have come first; they are far superior than Aneek as far as voice quality and style are considered. He has a very shrill noise although technically he has no flaws.

Did a Bengali factor play in? The Bengalis are prone to send excessive SMS messages to help Bengali contestants win and even when the SMSs are not involved through networking tactics they try to ensure victory for a Bengali contestant. I’m not saying that he is a Bengali so his victory should be questioned; it’s just that the other contestants were far better and this is the only logic that can be drawn — that he undeservedly got more votes. Of course Rashamya too used cheap psychological tricks to fetch more votes for his student.

The win actually doesn’t matter much because many contestants have won and then faded into oblivion. Only the talented can survive. This is why there are many contestants who got singing contracts even before reaching the finals — including Amanat and Raja — but I doubt if Aneek got a singing contract during the competition.

And it is heartening to see that true talent is still appreciated in other parts of the country and that is the main reason that Amanat, despite being a Pakistani, was among the top three, and despite Poonam being the least glamorous among the female contestants, was the top female performer and eventually won the spark of the day award. Hers is the face that should inspire you. Read her story if you can find it somewhere. Listen to her singing Der na ho jaye, I mean, of course she is not Lata Mangeshkar but I think after Lata and Asha Poonam’s voice is the best I’ve heard so far.

All in all, Sa Re Ga Ma P is the best talent hunt program on Indian television and the new singers discovered through it are really going to give sleepless nights to the established but mediocre singers of the Hindi cinema. These singers, barring Aneek’s final fiasco, are really brilliant and truly deserve the attention being showered upon them. Hopefully we’ll get to listen to some good melodies in the near future. And if that doesn’t happen well I’m always there to sing to myself and to people who care to listen, for instance my greatest fan I think, no I’m sure, is my 27-month-old daughter :-).

Technorati Tags: saregamapa, sa re ga ma pa