Thursday night with the theme Indi popsizzled with excitement. While Amit Sana of West Bengal got plaudits from the judges, Ravinder Ravi, a painter from Punjab, was asked to get his act together. Mukesh's performance drew a lukewarm response, while Prajakta, who " looked like Jennifer Lopez and sang like Asha Bhonsle, looked like a pop diva," commented Farah Khan. According to the judges, Abhijeet and Harish looked like rock stars. The two other contestants, Aditi Paul from West Bengal and Rahul Vaidya, also impressed the judges.

"It is not about unveiling some pop star, nor is it about another jury star. But Indian Idol is really all about unearthing one amazing talent,' said Tarun Katial, Sony Entertainment Television India's executive vice president at a press conference in Mumbai in September last year. According to him, the Delhi and Kolkata auditions were a huge success with over 3,000 candidates auditioning at each centre.

The show, which will have 33 episodes, hit the small screen in October 2004.The whole process, which kicked off with auditions in August, will last seven months. The winner will be crowned in February, this year and get a contract worth Rs 1crore with Sony Entertainment. He/she will also be awarded a recording contract with a major Indian music label.

How does the gruelling competition work in practice? Aspirants in the 16-35 age group are invited to phone in and register. This is also the show's target audience and would be applicable to 10 cities. Auditions were then held from September 8-October 8 in Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad.

Every week viewers get to see 10 performers. At the end of the show they get to phone in a vote on who they choose for the next round. Winners are revealed the following night. By the end of the season, the show comes to a nail -biting countdown and the field is narrowed to two with viewers picking up a winner.

Based on the US hit serial, American Idol, the format was conceived by Fremantle Media Asia, 19TV and Simon Cowell, one of the judges on the American Idol panel.

Now plans are afoot for localised versions for Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. The latest entrant in this show is Nepal Star which is hunting for latent talent, especially in the "underprivileged segment of society."

One quick look would reveal that the winners of such talent show are simply scooped up by the private media companies, and within a short time transformed into idols, so that we stand in awe at their performances. And it is these artists who promote their culture internationally, invigorate the entertainment industry and keep the wheels of culture rolling. What is most attractive about the show is the transparency of the judges. Every single candidate is criticised or praised rightfully and is groomed to become a performer. Among the many aspirants was a fruit seller, who was offered a three- year scholarship by Sonu Nigam to study music. An emotionally charged Farah Khan offered the talented Rahul Saxena a chance to sing for her next playback as he was unexpectedly dropped from the list of the talented ten.

Every episode had something new, as the aspirants were seen recording an album under Leslee Lewes from the Colonial Cousins, had lively discussion sessions with Hollywood and Bollywood stars like Richard Gere, Hritik Roshan and others. The show, with a tagline "Sab kuch bhula de", meaning "A show which will make you forget everything", is a musical journey filled with emotion, humour and entertainment, identifying the most talented singing personality and a heartthrob for the coming years.

Compiled by Cultural Correspondent