Anu
Malik
proudly
claimed
that
this
years
Indian
Idol
will
lay
emphasis
on
the
'V
factor".
Indian
Idol"s
resident
judge
acknowledged
that
the
show
faced
such
criticism
in
the
past,
but
this
year
they"ve
managed
to
unearth
17
singers
who"ve
made
it
to
the
competition
purely
on
the
merit
of
their
voice.
While
there"s
no
disputing
their
quality,
as
many
as
five
contestants
in
Indian
Idol
5
have
made
their
appearance
in
a
reality
show
before.
29-year-old
Vishwas
Rai
of
Allahabad
appeared
on
Sa
Re
Ga
Ma
Pa
Challenge
2005,
Shashi
Suman(Patna)
and
Manisha
Karmakar
(Kolkata)
participated
on
Sa
Re
Ga
Ma
Pa
Challenge
2009,
Ludhiana"s
Arvind
Gujral
was
part
of
Sony"s
Waar
Parriwar.
Delhi"s
Yashraj
Kapil
won
the
unheralded
show
Choona
Hai
Aasmaan
that
aired
on
the
now
defunct
Real
TV.
Inevitably
questions
were
raised
as
to
what
is
the
merit
in
having
reality
show
discards
(except
Yashraj)
in
Indian
Idol.
Shouldn"t
such
a
show
encourage
just
raw
talent?
Judges
Anu
Malik
and
Salim
Merchant
were
quick
to
defend
the
presence
of
these
contestants.
“The
judges
have
chosen
these
17
contestants
purely
on
their
singing
ability.
We"ve
said
that
this
year,
it"s
the
V
Factor
that
we"re
looking
at.
When
these
contestants
came
to
perform,
we
weren"t
aware
of
their
history.
Even
if
they"ve
appeared
elsewhere,
don"t
they
deserve
a
second
chance
if
their
singing
has
improved?
We
found
them
to
be
good
enough
singers
to
make
it
to
the
final
17." said
Merchant.
Anu
Malik
adds,
“At
every
audition,
we
were
having
thousands
of
applicants.
They
get
barely
few
minutes
to
impress
the
judges.
Then
we
don"t
ask
them
about
their
history.
We
had
few
former
Indian
Idol
contestants
too
for
the
auditions
but
they
weren"t
selected
as
they
didn"t
sing
well.
Voice
is
the
sole
merit
for
selection.
Besides,
I"d
like
to
point
out
that
the
rules
state
that
you
need
to
be
in
the
age
group
of
14-29
to
participate
in
our
show.
Rules
don"t
bar
a
former
reality
show
contestant
to
appear
in
our
show“
We
agree
with
the
two
judges
but
the
issue
here
is
not
their
voice
but
how
can
you
have
these
guys
as
Indian
Idols
when
Indians
themselves
didn"t
voted
for
four
of
them
in
those
shows.
Yashraj
Kapil
may
have
won
Choona
Hai
Aasmaan,
but
the
only
time
the
show
made
news
was
when
he
fought
with
a
female
contestant,
who
accused
the
guy
of
bitching
about
her.
Apparently,
before
this
spat,
the
two
were
caught
cozying
to
each
other
on
camera.
Now,
such
tainted
figure
certainly
doesn"t
deserve
to
be
Indian
Idol.
To
be
fair
to
Kapil,
that
footage
appeared
to
be
scripted.
Despite
their
reality
show
experience,
if
these
five
contestants
have
improved
as
singers,
they
deserve
to
be
on
Indian
Idol.
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