Indian Idol: Start voting from today

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Indian Idol is back with its fourth edition. The first episode of the show will be aired on October 17. Priyanka Chopra, along with previous Indian Idol winners will be the highlights of the first episode..

WHO WILL be the next Indian Idol? The hunt that began a few months back, is finally entering the public voting phase from today (October 17). The first episode of Indian Idol-4 will be aired today evening at 9pm on Sony Television channel. The presence of Priyanka Chopra is the major highlight of the first episode.

Besides, the show will be graced by the presence of previous Indian Idol winners - Abhijeet Sawant, Sandeep Acharya and Prashant Tamang.

The hunt for Indian Idol started about four months back. Auditions were held in various cities of the country. Around 50 lakhs participated, with hope to become the next Indian Idol. The audition rounds remained full of fun and enjoyment for judges and contestants alike. Some impressed the judges with their excellent singing and other related talents, while majority of them annoyed the judges. During the auditions, some participants also became laughing stock for judges and the television viewers. Based on the performances, the panel of judges, comprised of Annu Malik, Javed Akhtar, Kailash Kher and Sonali Bendre, selected 157 participants for theatre round in Mumbai.

With a dream in their eyes, the participants reached the entertainment capital of India, Mumbai. Here again, contestants had to pass through a tough test, the judges made pairs for the theatre round. Contestants were grouped into two or three and had to perform before the judges in theatre round. Excitement of the contestants was on air, while some succumbed to the intense pressure.

The most memorable moment was selection of Bhanu Pratap during the theatre round. Bhanu Pratap tried his luck in Indian Idol over the last three seasons, but he couldn’t make beyond the theatre round. This time too he was not selected for the next round. Annu Malik, known for his harsh behaviour, became emotional and suggested Bhanu to secure his future, instead of wasting his time for participation in a reality show like Indian Idol. While Bhanu was coming out of the audition room, Javed Akhtar narrated an encouraging story before all and suggested him to try his luck next year again in Indian Idol. The environment became very emotional with breaking down of Bhanu and the judges provided his chance to participate in the next round.

With sheer luck, Bhanu made it into the Top 30 and he has become very popular among viewers since the very beginning of the show.

At the end of theatre round, the judges selected 50 contestants to sing individually with a live band in the next round. Judges too had a tough time ahead, as they had to select the top 28 singers for the show, including 14 boys and 14 girls. At last, the judges selected 30 contestants, two more than the pre-decided number of 28 according to show format.

Today in the first episode of the Indian Idol 4 – Piano Round, top 15 girls are going to perform. The presence of Priyanka Chopra, the star of Madhur Bhandarkar`s upcoming movie, Fashion, has certainly boosted the confidence of the girls.

But, as per the history of the show, luck and public have favoured boys so far. Only few girls could make it to the top in last editions of the Indian Idol. Let us see whether this time the audience supports the girls.