Music-based reality shows are a dime a dozen on television. To keep up with the Joneses, judges, leading musicians, and celebrities alike, are roped in by channels to make their programme a success. While the talent of the contestants does play a role in making a show work, the panel of judges too is of significance. holds an important key.
Asianet's ‘Idea Star Singer Season Six' has accomplished a coup of sorts. They have ghazal and playback singer Hariharan on board for their show as one of the judges. But ask the producer of the show, Prathap Nair, whether getting Hariharan as a judge is a bid to raise the viewership of the show and he vehemently denies it. Excerpts from an interview with Prathap.
Spreading wings
As we have a large viewership outside Kerala, we organised auditions at various venues outside the State. We held auditions in the metros of India, and in the United States and in Dubai. We were flooded with eager contestants and had a tough time picking the best of the lot. Initially, 350 participants were selected and of that 100 wannabe singers were chosen. Then it was down to 60 and finally we have 30 contestants.
New faces
It is new faces you see this season. Usually contestants from previous seasons and other music-based reality shows participate again hoping to reach the top; not in this season. Also, the participants for ‘Idea Star Singer Season Six' are between the ages of 16 and 25.
Lending a hand
Hariharan sir is the brand ambassador for this season of the show. He is a gifted musician and a teacher at heart. Likewise we have M. Jayachandran [in place of Sharreth], M.G. Sreekumar and K.S. Chitra on the panel of judges. The judges will play a role in the participants' training, be it in Carnatic, Hindustani or Western music. We have some of the previous winners of the show like Najim, Durga, Srinath, and Kalpana coming in to help groom the contestants. They will also be providing moral support to the contestants.
Memorable episode
I think my favourite episode was the first one. The theme was ‘A journey in Indian music' in which a wide variety of songs, right from the period of Saigal to the present were featured.
We covered the various periods of music and the contestants, while performing the songs, were dressed in costumes from that era. A lot of attention to detail was paid to get the look right.
On the road
We plan to release a series of albums with all the 30 contestants, a probable first of its kind for any music reality show. We will also be organising a road show with them.
