Ennai Saaithaalae Short Film Song 184
Ernestina Spenard
Well, you may wonder why I am recalling this scene now. Recently, actor Shruti Haasan, who will be next seen in Waltair Veerayya, resonated with what Ayan felt, as she had a tough time shooting for Sridevi Chiranjeevi song in the freezing climate.
The song features Shruti in a lightweight-saree dancing in the background of the snow-clad location. In a recent interview with Pinkvilla, Sruthi revealed that she did not enjoy filming the song. She added, "I do hope and completely be very honest that I don't have to do another song in the snow wearing a saree because physically it is so uncomfortable but I guess, people still want to see it and we will have to keep doing it. It is truly uncomfortable for a woman."
Meanwhile, women actors wearing flimsy sarees and short clothes without woollens for song sequences shot in cold places have been a template for many decades, especially in Bollywood. From Sharmila Tagore to Hema Malini, Asha Parekh and Shilpa Shetty have spoken about the ordeals of shooting in frosty weather.
The open auditions, the first stage in determining a seasons finalists, were conducted in the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. During this stage, contestants sing a song or two before a panel of preliminary state audition judges. This panel then decides on-the-spot whether the contestant demonstrated enough ability and performance value to proceed further. If the contestant exhibited exceptional ability in their performance, judges award a "ticket" moving them instantly one step forward in the competition. Alternatively, if judges are on the fence about the singer, they will place the contestant on a waitlist until the end of that day's auditions. Otherwise, if the contestant lacks the ability and performance value to proceed further, the contestant will be rejected.
In the second and final stage of the audition process, contestants shortlisted from the open auditions arrive in a central location in Chennai. They are expected to perform a song or two before a different panel of judges with a view of being selected as top 20 finalists of the show.
For this stage of the process, the program host asserts that it is distinct from other reality shows as it does not embarrass unsuccessful contestants in the show by actively 'rejecting' them on the spot; rather, it actively encourages contestants in this stage to continue to improve their singing skills.
Again, this panel then decides on-the-spot whether the contestant demonstrated enough ability and performance value to proceed further. If the contestant exhibited exceptional ability in their performance, judges award a "green card" shortlisting them instantly one step forward in the competition towards finalist selection. Otherwise, if judges are on the fence about the singer, they will ask the contestant to wait for a decision at the end of the final level auditions.
At the conclusion of the auditions in this episode, the judges announced 10 of the top 20 finalists they selected to enter the competition this season. This included a recap of spot selected contestants from previous episodes in this round of auditions.
The 10 finalists announced at the conclusion of episode 20, as well as 16 other contestants, were expected to perform over two performances rounds. The first round of performances were announced as the 'introduction' round. The second round of performances were announced as the 'duet' round. At the conclusion of the performances from both rounds, the judges were expected make a decision as to which other 10 contestants should be selected as top 20 finalists.
This round required duet performances from the contestants. At the conclusion of this round, the judges announced their decision as to the remaining contestants selected as top 20 finalists. The judges confirmed that although it was not possible for all contestants to participate in all rounds for various reasons (such as illness, exam studies, difficulties traveling interstate at an agreed time, and so forth), a decision was made taking into account the overall potential of each contestant from their performances to-date. After the judges announced the names of the other selected contestants, the host pointed out that 12 contestants were named instead of 10. The judges asserted the last two named contestants were lucky surprise selections but warned that those contestants should not become complacent as they were allowed into the competition by half marks.
Ajay initially auditioned at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and only just made it as a contestant on the show. However, he ceased appearing as a contestant on the show after the New Year Celebration Round.
The first finals round of the season was telecast on 2 January 2015 in celebration of the New Year. The host announced this round as a celebration round in which no contestants would be eliminated. The top 22 contestants were required to perform hits from Tamil films released in the previous year, 2014. Before the performances were underway, an announcement was also made that as a New Year's gift, the best performing contestant(s) would be given a playback singing opportunity by music director Bharadwaj, one of the show's judges.
This unique round was in tribute to prominent film director, K. Balachander ("K.B Sir"). Throughout this round, each of the judges and chief guests made detailed comments filled with anecdotes about their experiences with the film director during their careers.
This unique round required the top 21 contestants to perform hit Tamil film songs which were remade from hit film songs in other South Indian languages (Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages). The first part of the round consisted of solo performances, and the second part consisted of duet performances.
At the commencement of the round, it was announced that contestant Ajay was no longer able to participate in the competition for an unavoidable reason, and that the next waitlisted contestant would be announced in the next round.
This unique round was in tribute to Puratchi Thalaivi ("Revolutionary Leader"): politician, actress, and artist, Jayalalithaa. The round celebrated Jayalalithaa's birthday and contributions. The first part of the round consisted of solo performances, and the second part consisted of duet performances.
In celebration of the show reaching a 50th episode milestone, veteran playback singer P. Susheela graciously accepted an invitation to appear on the show as a special guest judge over the first three episodes in this round.
Judge S. P. Sailaja's comments throughout episode 55 were especially noteworthy. During episode 56, S. P. Sailaja also recounted in detail the circumstances surrounding her brother, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam singing the song Aayiram Nilave Vaa which was appreciated by viewers of the show.
This round required the contestants to perform songs belong to a "stage song" genre, such as film songs which were picturised on a concert stage. The host and judges S. P. Sailaja and Bharadwaj noted that Nithyasree Mahadevan was unable to attend to judge the show in episode 60.
The exchange between host Vaishali and contestant Vaanathishri before her performance in episode 59 was enjoyed by viewers, as was the exchange between Bharadwaj and Vaishali before the beginning of episode 60.
In episode 69, contestant Shrinidhi confirmed she was a disciple of prominent Carnatic music vocalist Nedunuri Krishnamoorthy, and judge Binny Krishnakumar confirmed she was a disciple of M. Balamuralikrishna.
This round celebrated the birthdays of playback singer, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam ("SPB"), and music director Ilaiyaraaja ("Raajaa"). Contestants were required to perform songs sung by SPB and composed by Raajaa. Special guest Prabhakar gave outstanding advice to the contestants, and to all music students generally at the commencement of the round. SPB's sister, S. P. Sailaja, returned to judge the show.
This Maatru Kural Suttru ("Change Voice Round") required male contestants to perform film songs sung by female playback singers, and for female contestants to perform film songs sung by male playback singers.
The quarter finals round required the contestants to attend and perform songs composed by music director M. S. Viswanathan, who died earlier in the month. Nithyasree Mahadevan returned to judge the music competition reality show which pleased viewers. Nithyasree confirmed during episode 92 that she requested to be excused from attending several episodes due to commitments she made prior to the start of the competition.
Following the last performances of the round in episode 95, the judges announced their decision in respect of eliminating contestants. Bharadwaj announced that contestant Somadas and contestant Sariga S. Ganga were eliminated for being absent and failing to perform, which viewers agreed with. S. P. Sailaja announced that due to unavoidable circumstances, contestants Shrinidhi & Sai Ramya were unable to attend to perform in this round, but as performances could only be judged after attendance, both contestants were unfortunately eliminated by default. Other than these 4 contestants, the judges also eliminated 7 participating contestants: Sathish, Aravindh, Nellaiappan, Tanuj, Madhumathi, Prathipaa, and Sindhujaa. Viewers disagreed with the decision to eliminate Shrinidhi, Madhumathi, and Nellaiappan.
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