Arabian Nights…. With Farooque Sheikh, Lillette Dubey and Masumeh Makhija On Amul Star Voice of India Mega music League Sat, Sept 13th, 10 p.m. only on Star Plus!!
Mumbai, September 10, 2008: The contestants of Amul Star Voice of India gear up to sing and sway to the tunes of sensuous and mysterious Arabian music, this Saturday, Sep 13th, 10 p.m. only on Star Plus. The magic of Arabian Nights is enhanced by the presence of the special guests on the show: Farooque Shaikh, Lillette Dubey and Masumeh as they promote their upcoming film ‘Saas Bahu Aur Sensex’. This evening had the perfect Arabian setting with desert, sand dunes, tents, camels, hookahs, dance and music. The celebrity guests were swept away with the talent on the ASVOI platform and each performance left them speechless.
The temperatures rose in the desert as the judges – Ismail Darbar and Monty Sharma gave contradictory views about the performance standards on the show. This week, Ismail was strict with the marking since he felt that good contestants are being voted out due to lenient judging. Monty disagreed and the undercurrents of their disagreement were felt through the episode. This Saturday proved to be a tough one for the contestants as Ismail Darbar rates their performances very strictly and ticked all contestants off to improve their singing.
Vipul kick started the scoring Saturday episode with the peppy number ‘Marhaba Marhaba’ and gained appreciation from all the judges with a perfect ten. He met up with the Singh Squad in the audience who has been supporting him from the start. Vipul also flirts with actor Masumeh. She, in turn, wanted to know if he was popular with the ladies.
Masumeh found that Sayantani’s voice had a naughty streak as she sang the qawali with ‘Parde mein rehne do’ and wanted her voice for her future projects. Lilette and Farooque appreciated her performance. Sukhwinder found her performance to be her best so far. Ravi sang Dil dena khel hai dildar ka and though all had decided not to question him on his personal life, Lilette questioned him on his love life and this had all the others also quizzing him; Masumeh also did not leave the opportunity and asked him, “Who is your first love – VOI or his love from Delhi?” Ravi was honest to admit that since VOI came later in his life, it was his second love. Ismail appreciated his honesty.
Saptaparna sang Maiya maiya to such perfection that it got Masumeh on her feet and on the stage to do a jig. Lilette , Farooque and Masumeh found her performance to be very powerful, energetic and passionate.
Shaan set off a debate on the sets when he asked Farooque, “what was important? good criticism or unnecessary appreciation!” According to Farooque, “One should be honest about his/her opinion and should be polite in criticizing the contestant. Also, the effort should be in giving constructive solutions rather than harsh criticism.” Masumeh also felt the same .
Khalbali hai khalbali was the next performance by Rohit. Monty Sharma gave some tips to Rohit before his performance and felt that he had lived upto his expectations. Farooque felt that he has the innocence in his voice that was present in people who hailed from Seven Sisters State. Lilette liked the performance but was more impressed by the fact that he made it to such a big platform despite his humble background. Sukhwinder wanted to gift him something special after his astounding performance. Sukhwinder made Ritisha sing Khatooba Khatooba once again and Ismail mentioned that said she has got lucky marks as 786 is a lucky number.
Sukhwinder dedicated a song ‘kava kava’ to an old lady he had once met on his trip to the Middle East Festival. He also sang “Dard de disco” on Masumeh’s request. Zakir began his performance with a shayari. He sang Yamma yamma so beautifully that it made Sukhwinder and Masumeh join him on stage. Monty complimented him that his voice reminded Monty of Mohamed. Rafi and promised to give him a break in one of his future compositions. His performance made Sukhwinder and Masumeh join him on stage to dance with him.
