I was planning to blog about this, but i’m not sure if I actually wrote about this. The idea for this was generated this September, which was a low-intensity blogging month for me, when I was staying at my relatives’ place in Gurgaon. My cousin used to be a big fan of “reality shows” of various hues (she still is), and on a few occasions I watched them along with her.
I got a taste of several reality and talent shows across various channels. I watched the first episode of the horrible Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena. Tried sitting through a few episodes of Bigg Boss. And then sat through parts of episodes of various talent hunt shows, most of whose names I don’t remember. Some would have an abrasive host, and abrasive judges. Others had viewers voting, which would lead to fairly random results. Even kids aren’t spared, with them being subject to extreme levels of pressure. Overall, it was a horrible watching experience, for someone bred on stuff like Close Up Antakshari, Philips Top 10 and TVS Sa Re Ga Ma. The good old talent hunt show was dead, I thought.
As I write this, I’m watching the finals of Canara Bank Ede Thumbi Haaduvenu (“i’m singing full of heart”). This is a talent hunt show for kids on ETV Kannada, and is hosted by SP Balasubramaniam. He is an excellent host. He seems fairly objective in his evaluation of the kids, and even when he has to offer his criticism, he makes sure that it’s measured and in a tone that the kid will find constructive. He offers the kids constant encouragement. And the judge in this program is usually a respectful senior musician.
This being the finals of the program, the quality of participation is also extremely high. All four little girls are singing really really well, and I just hope they and their voices are suitably well taken care of so that they become successful singers when they grow up. And one other thing I notice is that the voice of each of these girls is very “eccentric” – in the sense that they are far removed from the average voice of a 12-year-old girl, and in different directions. Seems extremely encouraging.
I suppose the current season of this program will end in another five minutes, but I suppose this series will continue. Hopefully there will be more such real talent hunt programs, rather than the horrible stuff I’ve been seeing on the Hindi channels in recent times. And if you know of any other good programs like this (either in Kannada and Hindi) let me know.
A couple of observations to end:
- As I mentioned earlier, SPB has been doing a great job hosting this show. In terms of his tone of voice, presentation, language, etc. We also need to keep in mind that he is a Gult, and he mentioned during today’s show that he didn’t speak Kannada too well when he started this program. Given this, the way he has performed here is truly exemplary
- This program has been so good today that I haven’t bothered switching channels to even briefly check the scores of the Chelski-Arsenal game that is happening right now
PS: program just ended. the finals are not over yet. 2nd part will happen next sunday.
Ede thumbi.. has been on for a few seasons now. It monopolizes Sunday prime time at home. SPB presents identical shows in Telugu and Tam as well (not sure, but at least one of the two). [And translation should be I sing, not I’m singing].
didn’t konw it’s there in telugu and tam also.
and thanks for the correction in translation. got a bit muddled up
The program has been on for years now, and is a Sunday staple in my household. And there have been a few absolutely excellent singers in the past few years – Chethana, Arundathi, Inchara Nagaraj, Rakshita…
i know that it’s been on for a long time. and my mom has been watching it for most of that time. thing is it usually clashes with “super sunday” (EPL). in Bangalore we had two TVs and so I’d head upstairs to the other one to watch footer.
and now i’m planning to get Tata Sky +
A very humorous take on SPB’s ‘ede tumbi haaDuvenu’ can be found here and here.