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The right choice?
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Should public voting through SMS be the yardstick in contests?
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Singing sensations Amit Paul and Prashant Tamang
For weeks they danced to the tune of the judges and sang their heart out to impress everyone. But finally what prevailed was the nimble touch of a few buttons on mobiles and fixed phones which resulted in the transmission of electronic text messages.
“Indian Idol — 3”, the show hosted by Sony Television to select the country’s new singing sensation drew to a close recently with people voting for Prashant Tamang from Darjeeling.
His competitor in the finale, 24-year-old Amit Paul from Shillong was not only consistent throughout the competition and the favourite, but was edged out by the “boy next door” from Darjeeling in a crunch finish, thanks to public votes.
Though many favour the decision and feel Prashant’s simplicity prevailed over Amit’s flamboyance they also suggest that the public voting system should not be the yardstick in a contest. “I am not against Prashant. He is a good singer but when it comes to pure talent and singing capabilities he did not do as well as Amit. The final should have been between Emon Chatterjee and Amit. Both Amit and Emon did higher than Prashant when it comes to voice quality and singing capabilities,” says Prajit, a professional singer.
Nandita who was selected for the show but missed the bus in the second round opines that the final decision should not be left to the public. “In the final count, real talent suffers. Voting through SMS could be flawed and biased. It happened to Sumedha in “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa” (a similar show on Zee TV). She lost out because she hails from a small state, like Chattisgarh, where network connections are yet to be established in a big way. It would have been ideal if the selection procedure were a combo of voting system and the judges’ choice.”
Though Prashant, Amit and rest of the 13 finalists have become celebrities overnight, a few feel that the voting system has become a sort of a campaign for over-zealous supporters. “People from the states where they hail from had taken it up as a campaign. There were reports that Mayor of Mirik T.B. Rai had spent over Rs. 10,000 for SMS voting and the Kolkata Police were given over 30 mobile sets to take up voting vigorously. Rallies and signature campaigns were organised both in Darjeeling and Shillong to raise funds for the voting. In such a scenario genuine talent is edged out and only the telephone companies make huge sums. “Just imagine for the final result over seven-crore votes were received and the system was on for the last couple of weeks,” says Prajit. There is also an argument that votes must be limited to one per mobile. While there is a huge debate about the voting pattern, a few are of the opinion that it divides the country. It is felt that it is wrong for the contestants to motivate their home state to vote for them in a live show.
SUMIT BHATTACHARJEE
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