The talent hunt that began after the success of similar programmes around the globe like American Idol and Indian Idol is based on the same formula, yet it truly captures the essence of our authentic culture and traditional music. The emerging singers are not expected to perform unrealistic acrobatic movements while singing in the name of 'performance'. Quite a few folk singers (a certain minstrel named Beauty already seems to have a fan base) have mesmerised the TV audience. The time limit to send SMS to vote for the contestants began right after the programme on Friday night till 12pm Saturday. Now that has been extended to 2 pm Saturday. These are all signs that the nation is watching this programme closely and they have a lot of expectations.

The second group of eight selected singers in the third round tried to impress the TV audience last Friday night. It was a tough act as the artistes had to sing with track, which does not hide the imperfections of the singer's voice like live instruments do.

The first one to take the stage was Surojit Kumar Roy who performed a mushy number Jiboner golpo ektai. The judges seemed quite blasé, as Ahmed Imtiaz Bulbul said, "Basically a good voice but the range was not wide enough."

Following that, Amia Anwar rendered a Tagore song Tumi nirmolo koro, mongolo kaurey. The performance at best generated a lukewarm response from the judges. Siddikur Rahman, a folk singer, sang a rather emotional number Jarey chhedey elam koborey. According to the artiste, he often thinks of his deceased father while performing.

Sabiha Islam Sharmi performed a Sabina Yasmeen number Dukhkho amar bashor raater palonko. Traces of the diva who's currently absent from our cultural arena, was present in the performance but Sharmi couldn't quite strike a chord with the judges. She missed a few notes and the passion was not there. Ariful Islam sang Jey bhul korechhi ami. Ariful seems to have a voice fit for playbacks.

Perhaps the best performance of the night was delivered by Pia Baishsho, a folk singer. Rendering a 'Lalan geeti', Dekhna mon jhaank mariya duniyadaari, Pia demonstrated the feats of a self-made singer. The passion was certainly there and one could experience the earthy uninhibited appeal of our folk songs in the performance. Following that, Tahmid Rahman Safi rendered one of popular band, Souls' all time favourite numbers, Mon shudhu mon chhuenchhey. The performance was dubbed as 'flat' by Shakila Zafar. The episode wrapped up with a rendition of another Sabina Yasmeen number Keu konodin amarey tho kotha dilo na by Ananya Das Gupta. Ananya did a better Sabina imitation than Sharmi but will she go to the finals?

Only the audience can decide who'll be singing in the final round. To know if your favourite contestant made it to the next round, don't miss the result in tonight's Close up 1 at 8:50pm.