MUMBAI: While India has popularised several singers like Bela Shende, Shreya Ghoshal and Kamal Khan, through its very own singing competition reality series, local adaptations of international competition formats have also given birth to some incredible talent. Here are the adapted formats that have taken singing reality series a notch higher, and added to India’s wealth of talent.
Indian Idol (2004 – present)
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Adapted from the British music competition series ‘Pop Idol’ created by Simon Fuller, ‘Indian Idol’ started in 2004. In its six-season history, the competition has resulted in the popularity of singers like Abhijeet Sawant and Rahul Vaidya. It started with FreemantleMedia buying the distribution rights of ‘American Idol’ for India, which led them to buy the format and produce an Indian version of it. ‘Indian Idol’ has aired on Sony Entertainment channel, while ‘American Idol’ has aired on current English GECs STAR World and Zee Café. Since its premiere, the Indian adaptation has led to another series called ‘Indian Idol Junior’, which, in the first season, aired on Sony Entertainment Television. The upcoming season will be broadcast on Sony LIV at the end of this month.
India’s Got Talent (2009 – present)
‘India’s Got Talent’, which is the result of a joint cooperative effort between yet another FreemantleMedia format and Indian TV channel- Colors, premiered in 2009. Music mogul Simon Cowell and his production company Syco TV created the original ‘Got Talent’ format, which first premiered as ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ in 2007. In its third season, ‘India’s Got Talent’ garnered a series high TRP of 3.91. The show is currently in its sixth season and is expected to start airing the live audience voting rounds soon.
The X Factor: India (2011)
‘The X Factor’ was originally created by Simon Cowell’s SycoTV as a replacement for ‘Pop Idol’ in the UK back in 2004. However, the similarities between ‘The X Factor’ format and ‘Idols’ format prompted Idol creator Simon Fuller, along with 19 Entertainment to file a lawsuit against Cowell, SycoTV and FremantleMedia in 2004. An out-of-court settlement was reached in 2005, allowing Fuller to gain a 10 per cent share in ‘The X Factor’ format, and preventing an American version until 2010.
In another Syco TV and FreemantleMedia collaborative effort, the Indian adaptation premiered in 2011 on Sony Entertainment Television. Even with judges such as Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the series failed to receive a season two renewal from the network.
The Voice: India (2011, 2015)
This competition series is adapted by a Dutch format created by Talpa Media’s John de Mol. The Indian adaptation called ‘The Voice India’ was originally supposed to air on Hindi GEC channel – Imagine TV in 2011. However, the channel was completely shut down in May 2012 after struggling for ratings.
Radioandmusic.com earlier reported that the series is being given a second life on Indian television by Zee Network, and will air on the network’s latest channel &TV. This year, the rebooted series will feature Mika Singh, Himesh Reshammiya, Shaan and Sunidhi Chauhan as coaches.
Apart from the adapted formats, India’s original singing reality show formats such as ‘Airtel Super Singer’, ‘Amul STAR Voice of India’, ‘Chhote Ustaad – Do Deshon Ki Ek Awaaz’, ‘Chhote Ustaad’, ‘Fame X’, ‘Bharat Ki Shaan: Singing Star’, ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Super Star’, ‘Sitaron Ko Choona Hai’ and the much loved ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ franchise, have all produced award winning singers.
