SONU NIGAM EXPLAINS

Sonu Nigam explains why

Subhash K Jha



Sonu Nigam and his co-judges Anu Malik and Farah Khan staged a walk-out from Indian Idol on Tuesday after talented contestant Ameya Date was eliminated.

Sonu explains, "As a judge on Indian Idol I realise that I can't afford to be particularly fond of any contestant. But yes, I do feel Ameya has a great future. He got eliminated because he didn't sing well enough on Tuesday. However, having said that, I must say I don't regret walking out after Ameya's elimination. We had to ring a warning bell in the audience's mind. We don't know what stand to take now. We're confused. The channel (Sony TV) say that we have to go by audience poll since that's the format for Idol all over the world."

"Our walk-out had nothing to do with Anuj. For, it isn't Anuj's fault if he got more votes than Ameya," he adds. "I apologised to Anuj. I know our walk-out can't bring Ameya back. But they cannot disqualify good talent like this. In fact, rowdies at the recording got very aggressive and said, 'This is Sony channel, not Sonu's channel'. It's foolish to choose talent based on region and caste."

Sonu admits that he supports talent like Ameya because he never got similar support during his struggling days.

Meanwhile Ameya Date sees his ouster from Indian Idol as a challenge. "As far as Indian Idol is concerned I've come as far as destiny had to bring me. That Sonu Nigam, Anu Malik and Farah Khan actually protested on my behalf moved me deeply," he says. "I want to apologise to them for not having lived up to their expectations. At the same time I feel happy to have got as far as I have. I feel I've received more love and attention from people than I could ever dream of. It's just my bad luck that I got eliminated. Every day can't be the same. And maybe on Tuesday my performance wasn't up to the mark. I was eliminated as per the rules and regulations of Indian Idol. So I've no reason to complain." Ameya hasn't yet decided on a course of action. "I'll do something in the field of music, of course," he says. "I want to do playback singing for films. After I was eliminated on Tuesday Anu Malik promised he would look out for me. I'm happy that I reached the Top 4 in Indian Idol. I feel I've gained from this in ways that this immediate defeat of elimination can't take away from me. I may not be the Indian Idol, but I'm the people's favourite."

He said few things which r mentioned in the above post...so...here it is

Sonu on Anuj & Ameya Date!
by Subhash K Jha

Sonu Nigam and the co-judges Anu Malik and Farah Khan staged a walk-out from Indian Idol on Tuesday after prized contestant Ameya Date was eliminated.

just Sonu explains, "Very honestly, as a judge on Indian Idol I can't afford to be particularly fond of anyone. But yes, Ameya has a great future. He got eliminated because he didn't sing well enough on Tuesday. That's it.

Having said that, I must say I don't regret walking out after Ameya's elimination. We had to ring a warning bell in audiences's minds.

Humse raha nahin gayaa. We don't know what stand to take now. We're confused. The Sony people argue that we've to go by audiences' poll since that's the format for Idol all over the world.

If Anuj got more votes than Ameya it's not his fault. I apologized to Anuj. We can't bring Ameya back. But they cannot disqualify good talent like this.

In fact rowdies at the recording got very aggressive saying things like, 'This is Sony channel not Sonu's channel.' We're such foolish people. We choose and select on regional religious and caste lines. That's why Britishers ruled over us for 150 years.

At least another deserving contestant Karunya is getting noticed. He's one of the most talented young singers I've heard. As for Ameya, I remember anchoring Zee's Sa Re Ga a Ma Pa many years ago where Ameya had come second. I support talent like Ameya because I never got a similar support.

There's a 13-year old boy Ranjeet from Jaipur whom I've taken under my wings. He's not a singer. He's a miracle. Yeh koi aatma iske andar mein. Don't you wish you heard Lataji sing as a child? Well, this boy will give you a glimpse into that talent. I don't think I've anything to teach him. Have any of u heard this boy?

There's so much singing talent around. But no dedicated gurus. I've watched Ameya go from my feet, to my knees. Then he started shaking my hand when he was a chorus singer. Now he's started touching my feet again. The guru-shishya equation shouldn't change. To this day I touch Suresh Wadkarji and Sachin Pilgaonkar's feet."

Ameya Date speaks

Ameya Date refuses to see the "defeat on Indian Idol as anything but a challenge. "As far as Indian Idol is concerned I've come as far as destiny had to bring me. That Sonuji, Anuji and Farahji actually protested on my behalf moved me deeply. I want to apologize to them for not having lived up to their expectations.

"At the same time I feel happy to have got as far as I have. I feel I've received more love and attention from people than I ever dreamt I would. Sonuji has been specially supportive. I don't know how to thank him.

It's just my bad luck that I got eliminated. Every day can't be the same. And maybe on Tuesday my performance wasn't up to the mark. I was eliminated as per the rules and regulations of Indian Idol.

So I've no reason to complain. I know people had a lot of hopes pinned on me. I hope I can fulfil their expectations from outside Indian Idol…I haven't thought of what to do now. But whatever I do will have to do with music. I owe my entire life and career to Suresh Wadkar. He's my guru and god. I want to sing in films.

After I was eliminated on Tuesday Anuji promised he would look out for me. Thank God I reached the Top 4 in Indian Idol. I feel I've gained in ways that this immediate defeat of elimination can't take away from me. Seeing the people's reaction today my eyes my filled up with tears. I'm not the Indian Idol. But I'm the people's favourite."

Edited by luvmusic - 18 years ago

Sonu nigam is CONFUSED! 😕 😕

why is he confused.He feels that Karunya sang better than Amey but Amey was loads better than Anuj and Sandeep.And he is a superb singer.He doesnt deserve to get voted out over Anuj.Thts all.There's nothing more than that.About Amey's performance he said fantastic 4 the 1st song but not upto the mark with the second.Thts why Karu got better comments.If u r not the best that day u get voted out especially if u r a good singer.Thts all he meant.Why is he confused?????

Originally posted by: breathing_irony

Sonu nigam is CONFUSED! 😕 😕

couldn't agree more with you Sneha...

Pls sonu make up ur mind regarding Amey.. After his performance u go on to say that this is one of his best performances till date and his performance exceeded ur expectations.. well, if that was the case, why have u said in the interview that he got voted out as he did not sing that well.. now which statement do we believe🤢.. pls dont confuse us also with such conflicting statements.. At least let Amey walk away with dignity.. dont say his performace was bad

thanx for sharing...i am short of net cards so i am not reading these posts but anywayz thanks

Originally posted by: sonu_nigamfan

why is he confused.He feels that Karunya sang better than Amey but Amey was loads better than Anuj and Sandeep.And he is a superb singer.He doesnt deserve to get voted out over Anuj.Thts all.There's nothing more than that.About Amey's performance he said fantastic 4 the 1st song but not upto the mark with the second.Thts why Karu got better comments.If u r not the best that day u get voted out especially if u r a good singer.Thts all he meant.Why is he confused?????

Does he mean to say that his performance was bad enough to get him voted out?  i am sorry i dont believe that and even he said he saw Anu/Sandeep in bottom 2?  So then why did he not feel that Amey will be voted out.. I agree he preferred Karunya over Amey on tues.. Fine.. But that doesnt mean he can say that Amey did not sing well and hence got voted out.. For if that were the only reason for Amey to be voted out, then according to sonu's performance chart for all the 4, Anuj was the worst and should have been voted out.. so Sonu pls dont say that Amey got voted out as he was not good

Sonu just meant that Amey was not at his best that day.He felt that he has so much potential but he didnt show all of it that day.If he thought Amey deserved 2 b voted out,why wud he walk out in the 1st place???U must remember that he was the 1st person who walked out.Sonu said fantastic 4 holi song but he felt satrangi re was not upto the mark and that Karunya had given a superior performance.He knows Amey's potential and he felt Amey didnt live upto that

Vandana I totally agree with u...in the episode he says 'one of your best perf' and 'you exceeded my expectations' and then he goes onto say tht amey didnt sing well enuf!! 😕 If eh felt amey didnt sing upto his potential then why couldnt he mention tht in the episode?

As for the walkout then onyl one thing comes to mind n thts the dialouge frm sholay: 'saala nautanki'.

ITS AMEY !!NOT AMEYA!!!!!!😡 I HATE HOW THEY ALWAYS GET HIS NAME WRONG !Edited by hotpink - 18 years ago