Idea star singer has been a wonderful programme in the kerala television history. It made malayalees realise the potential of a TV channel as well as the talents here.It provided enormous opportunities for the singers here in the God's own country too..!
In 2007, it became a big hit as it was the first attempt to showcase the talents of Kerala singers in a different way.It was projected as a completely different reality show mixed with critical analysis from judges,emotions and all the drama. The elimination episodes created bigger and louder scenes than soap operas! Asianet was successful in branding each of the candidates as they tried to project each one of them.They tactically selected people who have special qualities to the top ten as the programme went into the climax. Thus the audience could feel the anxiety of a mega serial as well as the thrill of a movie! The SMS concept was also a big hit as the audience considered the show genuine and the participants as their own kids! The channel could promote the programme and participants through an interactive blog also.Portals like youtube also accelerated the viewership as NRIs rushed into these kind of sites to see the performances! Last but not the least, the anchor Ranjini Haridas became one of the icons in Kerala television screen as ISS provided a great platform to showcase her 'flexibility'. The quality of singers were also high as most of them became good singers and even celebrities after the programme.
But what happened next?
ISS topped all the television ratings and broke all the records. The channel management team also got surprised with this overwhelming response. They had no two doubts of continuing the programme without much changes.They shuffled judges, the stage etc a bit. But there Asianet faced their first challenge. The controversies that the 2007 season evoked had made malayalees a bit distant from the programme as they thought that there were some gamblings happening in the back stage!(the ever cynical mallus!)..and they had no surprises this time to explore. But some core fans still followed the show. Many common people also followed it as it was still a lot better than the 'mega' serials in other channels.Asianet's same strategy of emotional bonding didn't work that well as many started debating about the genuinity of selection,elimination etc.The quality of singers also had come down and Ranjini had become a monotonous voice in every malayalee home!
Then what?
The 2008 season went without making much waves.But still there were lakhs of ordinary people who followed the show.Asianet just relied on these audience and went on to do the next season. MG and Sarath had become demons in participant's as well as audience's minds. The tone of Ranjini, the mode of the programme, the timings, the style of voting, the confusions in awarding marks, the elimination drama and even the title song made people bored.Still compared to the previous edition, some interesting performances from the participants made it popular when it came to the climax.This again made Asianet to do the act of homicide and its been continued till now!
How to revive the show?
Asianet is trying their level best to revive the show.But Manorama with its 'Mazhavillu' has launched a new reality song based show named 'Indian Voice' which looks slightly better than the existing Idea Star Singer. But again the old wine in a shapeless bottle!
I know that this is not United states of America or United Kingdom to host shows like BigBoss or other adventurous reality shows.Indians,particularly the so called 'Mallus' are inclined towards song based programmes only.This is the reason behind the failure of some good dance based shows in Amrita TV.
Asianet can try a different level of programme including masses utilising the already branded participants from the previous editions. A type of show which is completely innovative, participates the masses, thrilling and at the same time a bit dramatic. Let the creative 'think tanks' bother about it.Lemme pray for all the souls behind the show!
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