Well..loong time, no post!
And this post is to talk/crib/argue about the elimination of Shalmali Sukhtankar from Zee Marathi SRGMP Little champs Talent hunt show. In my opinion, she was definitely among the best 3 contestants in the show. The variety and consistency she showed in each song she has rendered in the show was simply amazing. Her acting abilities blended with her singing was simply AWESOME! But she got eliminated just because she did not get enough SMS votes from the Maharashtra or in judge's words Mumbai junta (coz Shalmali hails from Mumbai)! So I find myself writing this post rather than watching the next show of SRGMP (or for that matter, any of their shows this season) :(.
The first talent hunt show which I used to watch was Zee SRGMP. The show used to be hosted by Shaan and esteemed judges used to judge the singing talent. This made sure that the contestants were given a fair judgement and most importantly, the best contestant won! But to spoil the picture, in comes Indian Idol, the modern SRGMP where they made different "gharanas", and many more shows. The shows became more drama oriented and Talent hunt took the back seat. And to make truckloads of money, SMS voting got introduced. The sentimental Indian Junta is encouraged to SMS for their favorite contestant (read as contestant from their town/city/state/caste/creed) and that will decide the winner! You can even find contestants urging the viewers to vote for them in their regional languages! Obviously the main motto of "May the best man win" in a Talent hunt went for a toss. Though I chose to ignore these shows, Junta responded to this newly granted judgemental power with full enthusiasm and these shows are listed on top of today's TRP ratings! Well Mission accomplished for the TV channels..
But Zee SRGMP Marathi was still a fair and great show. The judges were responsible fully for the decision-making which made sure that best 12 contestants came through to the finals. And the fact that SMS votes only constituted an insignificant part of the decision-making process made sure the first 4 eliminations in the finals were fair. But on Nov. 17, 2008; the result was insane. SMS voting was given 50% weightage of the total points and hence, a top singer of a singing Talent hunt show was eliminated. And since SMS voting will play an even bigger role further in the show, there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind, that the winner won't gain the victory based on his/her singing talent.
To give you a glimpse of Shalmali's singing (&) performance, here is a youtube video :
With the talent she has, Shalmali is definitely going to make a big name in Marathi/Hindi audio world in near future. All the best Shalmali!
