Image courtesy: setindia
The first eight contestants of the Top 16 performed on Monday night, 10th May on the Indian Idol Season 5 stage. And perhaps for the first time in its history, all the participants who performed on Idol's stage sung outstandingly. An indication of the judges' ears for talent? Maybe. Even then can it be attributed to all three of them, since Annu Malek (hope I got the spell right, too many people influenced by numerology these days, changing the spelling of their names like anything!) has been a part of all the seasons? Maybe, having Sunidhi Chauhan and Salim Merchant helped a great deal in making stringent and careful selection of the participants.
The first performance by Naushad was the harbinger of how musically sound the evening was going to be. His near-perfect rendition of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's 'More Piya To Hai Pardes.. ' from Bandit Queen was succeeded by Tia's version of Sunidhi's 'Shut up and bounce.. ' from Dostana. Tia's singing lacked a little but she made up for it by her performance with a little ziggy-wiggy! Next up was 17-year old Meghna with Madan Mohan composed song 'Maeri Main Kaase Kahoon...' from 1970's Dastak sung by Lata Mangeshkar. She captured the essence of the song with her emotive singing, though like she herself admitted there were slight problems. It was up to Noida's Lakshay to get contemporary with Salim Merchant's recent hit 'Aye Khuda.. ' from Paathshaala. His upbeat performance was carried forward and taken to the hilt by Manisha, by far the best so far, with 'Solemiya.. ' from Popcorn Khao Mast Ho Jaawo, a forgettable film with some good music. Rakesh kept the audience smiling and cheering with his joyful rendition of 'Tere Bin.. ' from Rabbi Shergill's debut album. His performance was followed by a 'breathless' singing by Sreeram with 'Guzarish.. ' from Ghajini. The last to sing was Shivam, who pepped up the atmosphere with his performance of 'Halka-halka sa yeh nasha.. ' from Chocolate.
The audience had a gala time, so did the participants. And the judges, well, they went with the flow of the show. If at one point, they went teary-eyed because of an emotional confession of a participant*, they were up on their feet giving a standing ovation to another contestant's overwhelming performance^. But one thing remained the same throughout. They were amazed and happy with the quality of singing and performance. And two of them even performed with the contestants as well. Sunidhi fulfilled Tia dreams by singing 'Shut up.. ' along with her, while Salim teamed up with Lakshay for 'Aye Khuda..'. I say, take a bow judges and contestants alike. Now, it's the remaining eight contestants' responsibility to keep the flag flying high!
[* Sunidhi Chauhan was moved to tears when Tia, who idolises her shared her disbelieve on finally performing on the Indian Idol stage, a dream she had been harbouring for the past three years.
^ Salim Merchant's comments for Manisha's performance was a standing ovation. She was moved by the comments of the judges]
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