As predicted Sonia and Vivekanandan win ISS 2008

Didn't watch the show though I was able to hear the proceedings from the adjacent room. I asked Chaithu and Jaya to mute whenever Ranjini would do the talking. It was terrible to watch or hear her bragging and screaming "..one crore..one crore..".
The show sucked as usual and the winners were anyone's guess.

By the way when I received a "Happy Vishu" SMS from Roopa, last year's SSG winner on Amritha I was glad I was still there, somewhere in her memory.

ISS -2008 -Sonia sparkles, Gayathri does miserably yet judges praise her

It was a total disappointment watching a breathier Gayathri sing "Kannan varum Velai". Her voice was so muffled and so much out of tune when compared to the original. The entire performance was a disaster but I wonder why judges didn't want to tell her that. Instead they kept beating about the bush telling her she was OK, good etc.

On the other hand Sonia did extremely well singing "Oru Murai vandhu paarthaya" and though she was given an 89 I don't think she got the praise she deserved from the judges except for Usha Uthup.

A memorable show at ISS 2008

First comes the stunner from Sonia that left KPAC Lalitha sobbing uncontrollably. What lovely singing. The flat is yours girl!



It was interesting to know that Bharathan has composed the beautiful song "..Vaal Kannadi" from the film "Keli".

Vivekanandan also gave a stellar performance and Rimi Tomi sang "Malare" very well with Prashob. Venugopal commenting on Prashob's performance was at fault again when he said how Prashob's singing reminded him so much of SPB's singing. That was totally wrong. Though Prashob tried to sing like SPB did and even tried some improvisation there were flaws.

Rimi Tomi presence as always was sparkling.

More good performances at ISS 2008

Rahul springs a lovely surprise by singing the best ghazal so far in the competition. My only regret was the duration of the song. It could have been longer. Rahul can pull of a victory in the competition if he could use some killer instinct towards the end of the competition.



Sonia does a great job at singing "Ninnukori Varnam" effortlessly. I fully agree with Sharath's comments as those were the only errors I could make out. She was spot on and with a voice as this she did full and more justice to the original. Even where I thought Chithra strained in the original Sonia did it with utmost ease.



The Prashob Durga duet lacked lustre. But looking forward to some big performances today.

Sonia delivers a stunner at Idea Star Singer 2008

I couldn't help watching ISS 2008 today when I knew last years winner, Najim Arshad was singing a duet Sonia. After watching today's performance I thought there was a female winner of the competition in Sonia. This was the second time Sonia was teaming with Najim and today's song was even better than their first. I tried watching the song with my eyes closed and I couldn't help admire Sonia's brlilliant beautiful voice. Coincidentally Sonia gets 84 that she won last time for her earlier duet with Najim. I wish Sharath was here today to see her perform a great song and like he did last time I am sure he would have heaped his marks and praises on her. The only sad thing was that no one seemed to be appreciating Sonia as much as they were about Najim.

Here is the video of the peformance.



and if you missed her previous duet, here it is.



But Sharath would not have appreciated Vivekanandan who sang Ghulam Ali's immortal Ghazal "Chupke Chupke" very poorly. Except for the diction Vivekanandan was trying to imitate Najim in last year's show in costume and introduction (which really looked so lame). Judges including Usha Uthup were praising the performance and I wondered why.