Popular voting fair way to select reality TV winners: Shaan

Kochi, Mar 22 (UNI) Popular voting is a fair way of selecting reality television show winners and there is no ''catch'' in the system, popular singer and anchor Shaan said today.

Addressing a press conference here ahead of the 'IDEA Rocks India III' concert, Shaan, however, said people should not get carried away while voting for a contestant from a particular region or state.

''Voting should not be done on communal or regional lines.

Sometimes, the public does get carried away and campaigns have been launched to ensure that the person from a particular state progresses in the contest. But, I think that will change with time.

Other than that, there is no catch in this system,'' he added.

'Sa Re Ga Ma' contestant Sumedha, who won a lot of acclaim for her singing but was voted out, said luck did play a part in winning the contest. However, she added that there was no ''rigging'' to decide on the winner and the system was fair.

While reality shows do give a platform to budding talent, the winners were now realising that they will not automatically become the next big star. There is a different struggle after winning the show. One has to start from scratch to become a popular singer, Shaan added.

Stating that private albums could not compete with Bollywood music, he said unlike the West, where pop singers like Michael Jackson could become huge stars, in India film music ruled the roost.

However, film music had become a separate entity by itself and often contributed to the success of a movie. Unlike earlier, when film stars would insist on getting a particular singer to do playback for them, now several singers had a chance as people liked to buy CDs with a line-up of singers. ''Film music is now guided by the business of the audio industry than star diktats,'' he added.

The popular singer, often described as a teen hearthrob, said ghazal singer Ghulam Ali, R D Burman and Kishore Kumar were his idols.

IDEA Chief Operating Officer, Kerala, B Ramakrishna said Shaan and his entourage were performing live across 20 Indian cities as part of the 'IDEA Rocks India III' tour. The singer's next concert will be in Kozhikode in Kerala. The tour will culminate in Goa on March 30.

Through the IDEA Voice Portal, Indian youngsters were being given an opportunity to perform with Shaan and two Kochi youngsters, Rejia and Zia, would be performing with Shaan this evening, he added.

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