'Rig' Veda
The Indian Idol finale airs tonight and although I do think the show is pathbreaking in many ways, the SMS voting is beginning to resemble the Great Indian Political Tamasha more than a talent hunt.
Yesterday, Midday frontpaged a report on how the BMC worker's unions have pledged their support to Abhijeet Sawant - the contestant whose dad works with the corporation.
100,000 workers X average of 5 family members = 5 lakh possible votes. OK - so maybe all will actually vote but some may send in several entries and it all still adds up.
Meanwhile ads are apparently appearing in Chhatisgarh papers urging people there to vote for Amit Sana...
The point is: Talent Hunts are based on the 'may the best man wins' concept. So if I honestly believe X or Y is 'better' - sure, I should share this opinion with the world and even urge you to vote for him.
But simply asking for votes because I am from your city/ caste/ school - this is no different from what Indian politicians do. And the results are clear for all to see - the 'best man' usually doesn't even get nominated! The likes of Manmohan Singh are too educated and too unpopulist to get voted to office - but the like of Laloo can keep getting elected.
Coming back to Idol, Indians appear to be rating 'humility' more seriously than whether the singer has star quality. No doubt both Abhijeet and Amit are good singers - but personally, I don't think they possess the 'X factor' which is mentioned by the judges in every episode.
The odds appear to be stacked against Amit Sana - he is singing under medication, and also the fact that Abhijeet is from Mumbai is likely to influence votes in his direction.
Yet, I would urge junta to vote for whoever they think is 'better' - whatever your definition of better may be. As long as it's related to talent and not something vague like 'at least he's Maharashtrian'.
Hmm quite right you are. I read on rediff.com that some of Abhijeet's friend had voted 197 times for him.
ReplyDeleteScandalous!
A similar post: http://www.tblog.com/templates/index.php?bid=visualimpact&static=405551
previously contestants were judged on talent alone (pop stars et al) and we know what happened to viva and asma.
ReplyDeletelet them be jugded on popularity this time. atleast they already have a audience rooting for them. some of whom might even buy an album or 2.
talent is required but it is a business. selling albums counts.
Frankly speaking i think the whole concept of "indian idol" sucks bigtime cuz its a known rip-off of 'american Idol', and is nowhere near its predecessor. Even KBC wasnt original, but it atleast had some charisma and a novelty factor. Indian idol does not even have that novelty factor as ppl have already seen reality shows like 'popstars' and 'super singer'....but i cant deny the hype that it has created.....reaffirms my belief that anything cleverly-marketed sells today!
ReplyDeleteWell Rashmi, if you remember the CRI session at IIMA , and if you've followed Pulin's work , you would understand the power of 'identity'...
ReplyDeleteWhen there is a contest, essentially we try to empathise with the one who is closest to us , and when both are Indians and my knowledge of music is nothing to write home about, then I move to factors like region, city, religion, language, looks...however superficial it may seem...people do it because it matters to them...
I wonder if you've seen these three other posts on the subject: Yazad Jal's "Vote For What Doesn't Matter", and Amit Varma's "The psychology of Indian Idol voters" and "Indian Idol, and The Wisdom of Crowds".
ReplyDeleteSuresh
I think that it would be better if everyone got only one chance to vote.In that case we would be able to know the person who is liked by most people.the verdict of people who cannot afford to vote 100 times would also matter then.
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