Salim Merchant Reacts To Indian Idol 12 Controversy; Says He Was Asked To Praise Contestants On Shows

Of late, Indian Idol 12 has been in the news for all wrong reasons. The show got into controversy when netizens slammed judges and contestants for ruining Kishore Kumar songs. The Kishore Kumar special episode had legendary actor's son Amit Kumar as a guest, who had reacted to the netizens' backlash. He had also revealed that he was asked to praise the contestants. Post Amit Kumar's statement, several celebrities supported him and a few of them even revealed that they too were asked to praise the contestants in reality shows.

Now, yet another celebrity, music composer Salim Merchant has opened up about how a similar request was made to him as he made appearances on reality shows over the years. While he admitted that he was asked to praise the contestants, he said that he never gave in to it. He feels that this was the reason that he is not judging any music reality TV show right now.

In an interview with RJ Siddharth Kannan, Salim said, "Yes, mere saath bhi hua hai. But honestly, maine kabhi nahi suna unki baat. Shayad aaj main koi judge ki seat pe nahi baitha hoon because of that (Yes, it has happened to me too. But I never listened to them, maybe that's why I am not judging any musical reality TV show right now)."

He also admitted that he did praise contestants even though they made mistakes, but added that they were not fake. He added, "Main isliye nahi karta hoon because mujhe kaha gaya hai taareef karna. Main taareef isliye karta hoon ki kisi ki khaamiyaan nikaalne ke bajaay main khoobi dekhta hoon. Agar main uski khoobi ki taareef karoon toh shayad, main aisa maanta hoon ki, woh singer behtar kar sakta hai (I only compliment because I prefer to focus on the singer's qualities, instead of finding faults with them. And I personally believe that it makes them better artistes)."

It has to be recalled that Salim Merchant had previously judged Indian Idol and The Voice India.