"Full many a ray of purest ray serene the dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness to the desert air."
from "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Kamal ki hype

Saw 5 episodes of SaReGaMaPa today - loads of singing talent among youngsters in India. There are 5 people left - Sugandha from Punjab with the mimicry talent, Bishakh from Bengal whose girlfriend's name is Sonam, "the laavani girl" Anu from Maharashtra, the ghazal singer Ranjit Rajwada from Rajasthan, and Kamal Khan from Punjab.

Who is Kamal Khan? Though his singing is good episode after episode, I have to strain to remember anything other than his singing. There is no story out there about him, nothing that is made fun of, nothing that is repeated about him in episode after episode - how is anyone to remember him beyond appreciating his singing? And do I remember the last song he sang? - No, such is the memory of the average audience member.

Some of the competitors who have left by now had better hype than this - the girl from Canada who said "actually" thrice in a sentence and was encouraged to speak each time to the show guest, the competitor from Pakistan with a soulful voice, the opera singer, the well-built guy from Punjab who had lifted Salman Khan on his shoulders, the girl from Bengal who was going through a divorce, the girl from Bengal for whom Wajid Khan said he loved her eyes, the girl who was a great classical singer and her family of four who live in four towns in India, the very lovable guy from Pakistan who danced as much as he sang...and the list goes on and on...there is a story attached to each face, but what is the story on Kamal?

In an age where hype pays more than talent and performance, I vote for Kamal Khan as my favorite singer for SaReGaMaPa 2010.

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