Most TV people I know consume very little of the medium. And, I am no exception. Partly it is the hours that I keep, and partly is the fact that [tag]saas bahu[/tag] has no appeal to me. And the thought of watching over made up women, with loud costumes, and even louder background music, and a camera used as a broom when i get home after a noisy day at work – is scary. What I do try and catch – and have always done so — are the talent shows. I used to watch [tag]Sa Re Ga Ma Pa[/tag] – in the days before [tag]reality television[/tag] became a buzz word. And, when reality appeared, I tried to watch at least the first few episodes. This year there are a plethora of reality/talent shows that are up on offer on the main General Entertainment Channels. And, I watched them all.

Let me start with the only non-musical show of the lot. [tag]Sahara One[/tag]’s [tag] The Biggest Loser [/tag]. 16 extremely overweight people in the lush looking Amby Valley, overseen by [tag]Sunil Shetty[/tag], trying to lose weight. They receive a lakh per every kg lost. I had my apprehensions about the show before it started … the topic cut too close to home. But, surprisingly it was very entertaining television. Sahara One manages to get the right mix of contestants, and their rationale for wanting to be on the show is identifiable. There is a man who is around 160 kilos who wants to lose weight to be able to play with his daughter, there is a girl around 120 kilos who wants romance in her life, and the way they put across the feelings of being unfit and ‘not belonging’ is spot on. Also, unlike most reality shows – read [tag]Big Boss[/tag] or [tag]Roadies[/tag] – this is not about the scum of the earth who revel in behaving badly with each other, but nice ordinary people. I really hope that it picks up ratings, because it will tell the market that something apart from glycerine and sindhoor will work.

Now for the Musical Shows. [tag] Indian Idol [/tag] on [tag]Sony Entertainment Television[/tag]. The best outing of the popular international format. For the first time, the show seems to have got its judges right. The pacing is a lot better than in the earlier two seasons, and the level of talent seems a whole lot better. Hussein and Mini work very well as the anchors. The show starts at nine, and it had me enthralled till 9.30 at which point I switched to Sahara One -where the Biggest Loser is on. Personally i found that the Biggest Loser was entertaining enough to keep me on Sahara One. I hope that the show catches on and sustains – there needs to be an alternative to non soap, non-film based programming – at least on one or two slots in a week. The second talent show is the [tag] Voice of India [/tag]. Why would [tag]Star Plus[/tag] put on such a shoddy show to compete against such power houses at the same slot? The set looks as though it has been put together with thermacol and chewing gum. The show looks as though it has been lit up by a blind camera man. And the quality of singing is sub-par. And to top it all Shaan has enough insincerity to give you diabetes. All in all, the show looks amateur. And, it possibly looks that way because [tag]Zee TV [/tag] has put together the best talent show that I have seen in a long time.

Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is possibly the best watch of the week. Great Talent, Great Judges, and an anchor I want to adopt. He is tho tho cute. Aditya Narayan – his voice barely broken, his beard barely sprouted – holds the stage with what can only be described as cuteness. And the contest between the judges — Vishal Shekar, Himesh Bhai, Ismail Darbar, Bappi Da really works well. But, the icing on the cake is the only Diva on Indian Television [tag]Asha Bhonsle[/tag]. God! that woman has more attitude in a head movement than most of the bimbettes on air have even when they shake their entire body. Her criticism is constructive and she makes each of the singers feel good about their abilities. And, for those following the show .. the battle is on between Himesh Bhai and Asha Tai. And, my money is on the Diva.

So the battle for the weekend is on. All in all some interesting viewing for the audience. Some old, some new, and some down right stale…..and to quote a TV cliche … only time will tell, which of these will be the biggest winner (ouch)