Star Voice of India: Back to the Pavilion

Saritha reports on a VoI that made me believe: Hema Malini + Accent = terribly sexy

Week after week, I try different ways to say the same thing which is essentially a known fact to all: that Voice of India has nothing going for it – it’s a lost cause.

But still, there has been one constant factor – the host Shaan. Friendly, charming, non-controversial, he’s often seen sailing through turbulent times with an infectious smile on his face. Inspite of being an established playback singer currently riding high on the success of big banner movies, he appreciates these newbies on the show without ever trying to grab the limelight or intimidate them. I feel comfortable to know that whenever things go haywire (which happens pretty often around here), he’ll use his trademark charm to keep things on track. And he has never failed me.

When Ishmeet sang "Suno na" from Vishal-Shekhar’s lovely album Jhankar Beats, Shaan enjoyed it just like an audience member and for a second, I forgot that it was actually one of his early hits until Abhijeet grabbed the mike and reminded us.

At this point I was getting ready for the usual comments that defy logic, when Abhijeet surprised me by saying how "Suno na" had made him Shaan’s fan. Confession of the day! And surprise, surprise; he said it sitting down in his chair. It must have been a bright, sunny day in Mumbai. In return, Shaan admitted that Ishmeet is singing so well, he might be competition. Hmm...that might not happen anytime soon, but Ishmeet is targeting Shaan’s area of expertise, that is for sure.

Abhaas was in excellent form when he left the show and that irked Jatin, who always rooted for this boy, to no end. In fact, all the judges looked upset but Aadesh (who had to say something nasty) expressed his discontent with the show’s format where a ‘Seekha hua baccha’ got eliminated.

Jatin who was boiling already need to diffuse the heat and he did that when Harshit delivered a dud with ‘Mitwa’ from KANK. Aadesh promptly defended his chela for taking up a challenge with himmat’to sing such a song on stage .

Lalit went a step ahead and dragged Ishmeet into this saying that they didn’t want Harshit to play safe like him, sticking to a single genre. For a moment I was not sure if I was watching SRGMP L'il champs with parents are screaming "Nahi, mera beta teek gaa raha hain. Aap gaake batao, zara”

Later yet Jatin thundered “ If he can’t sing this song in a single take, at age 20, he should never sing at all. Main gaake bataoo?” The B/W sankat moments crept in, Aadesh and Lalit turned pale, Abhijeet and Alka watched the tamasha and I grabbed my coke and turned up the volume of the speakers getting ready to relish the drama, I’ve been craving for all these weeks.

Alas, the show tamely resumed from a break and I slouched back into my seat. Sigh!

Moreover, celeb guest Hridayanath Mangeshkar played messenger of peace asking the judges not to fight, thus embarrassing them.

Amidst all this, on Diwali's especially boring episode, each of the top three were gifted with a Chevrolet Spark making them very happy and that touched me. Those smiles will at least keep my cynicism at bay for a while.

Also:

• cool_guy would much rather watch Jhoom India
• Joules links to the sexiest women in Asia
• Megan thinks No. 1 Asia Sexy Bips looks scary
• Sidekick's distaste for the judges grows in inverse proportion to her fondness for the show
• anu g has heard the two finalists will get diamond studded watches from Queen Lata