‘Idol worship’ once again!

‘Indian Idol’, the show that was a rage in the first year of its launch, has returned for the third time. This time, the musical reality show has some surprise elements – two new judges and a new host.

The auditions will kick off this month in all the major cities, following the pattern set earlier. The winner will be awarded a recording contract with Sony BMG and Rs 1 crore contract with Sony Entertainment Television.

A refreshing aspect of the new season will be two new judges – singers Alisha Chinai and Udit Narayan. They will be accompanied by music composer Anu Malik, the third judge. Popular television actor Hussain Khuwajirwala will host the show along with Mini Mathur.

Offering a rational view, Jyoti Bansal, vice-president, MPG, says, “Sony’s fiction properties (soaps) are not doing well, so it makes sense to bring out Indian Idol 3, since it does have a loyal audience base.”

The second season of Indian Idol was disheartening, according to industry watchers. The reason was that Indian Idol was succeeded by Fame Gurukul, which is a similar show, if not identical. Similarly, after Indian Idol 2, Fame X was launched on SAB.

“With so many musical programmes on television, Sony can only hope it works well and matches up to the first season” says Nandini Dias, vice-president, Lodestar Universal.

Bansal points out that another reason for Indian Idol 2 not doing well was its complicated format. “A simpler format and different judges is a good thing. This may render a fresh look to the show and make it less predictable”, Bansal adds.

When questioned if SET has a contract with Fremantle media, dictating the airing of a certain number of seasons of Indian Idol, Aseem Kapoor, senior vice-president, marketing and communications, SET, clarifies that there is no such compulsion. “Fremantle is the owner of the format and we have struck a business alliance with them, by which there is an understanding between us, but no contract as such”, he claims.

© 2007 agencyfaqs!