Week 6: Little Miss Sunshine Says Boys Do Cry

If confirmed cynics like me allowed déjà vu to get to them, I might have sighed last Wednesday.

It felt like a Kroaking competition from at least a year back. Shyju was singing Uriah Heep, Roopika was back in town, Arfaaz was wearing his heart on his knees and Saurabh Dubey was performing a very 80s public display of angst again. Damn. I should’ve sighed.

But last week wasn’t just all about nostalgia: these guys were all back on stage to get back in the game again. The fact that only a couple of them made it goes to show just how competitive this has become. Shyju’s Stealin’ reminded me of a semi-finals from two years back as did Arfaaz who, no matter what he sang, would’ve sailed through back then.

There were the usual suspects as well. JJ, Selwyn and Martin. The latter two seem to have settled into a depressing genre of music. Better Man, Real Love, Bed of Roses, Angels, Iris…all these songs involve young men bereft of something, usually love, and is punctuated with their inability to sing something happy. This is a terrifying male version of a syndrome that Bette Midler went through, as did Shania Twain, God bless her annoying soul.
Martin and Selwyn, you boys should sing happy songs. Does it really matter if you get into the semi-finals or not? Sing happy songs! Come on. If Del Amitri could do it, so can you. And JJ, although you have (thankfully) broken off that gloomy relationship you had with Iris, I fear that this rebound with Breakfast At Tiffany’s is going to be a long one. Quick! Find another song!

Anyway, moving on from the rebuking. Many special mentions this week. The Talented Mr. Menzel pulled off a very sincere Romeo and Juliet. Sharon who has already made it to the semis, came back with that feminist anthem I Will Survive. My knees weren't as weak as the last time she sang, but she’s got something special all right. There was Russ Peterson featuring Aashith Shetty in a screeching interpretation of Pretty Fly. Just in case Martin and Mayank thought no one else could perform this song. Come on, boys! Let’s have a little fist out, shall we? Russ and Aashith walked away with last week’s Radio One Fatafat prize.

Priyanka Blah was Hella Good. She got an Underline in my book, and I’m hoping she’ll come back. Thing with Priyanka is, she does stuff not too many people do on the Opus stage, and that’s always refreshing.

The return of Roopika was akin to headline material in Opus circles, and for all the right reasons. Roopika's performance is flawless. As for her singing, read back issues. She’s one of the best we’ll ever have. I personally dislike the song she sang. Jesus Take The Wheel, besides conjuring an irksome mental picture of Jesus driving a pickup truck (oh no. now there’s a pink carnation.), does nothing for me. Roopika, I would love to see you do something completely different. Some bad-girl rock, perhaps?

Then there was my flavour of the season, Ravi Bhat, with Plush. Ravi, in my World XI, you will be captain, okay?

Moving on to Mamma’s sections.

Chickies In My Pen

Shwetha Jairam
Finally finally finally. Shwetha Jairam, who I’ve been rooting for unabashedly and whose name I spelt right for the first time today, has got her due. Success is sweet, you deserve it, I love your voice and all that jazz. It's a tough song to pull off, and harder still without the backing. You did a very decent job notwithstanding. Woo. Hoo!

Mamma’s Boys

Arfaaz Kaagalwala
Arfaaz was a personal pick, mostly because he sang one of my favorite Aerosmith songs. I was just lapping up all the nostalgia last week!

Saurabh Dubey
One of our shining moments from KroaKing 1, I was thoroughly pleased when I saw Saurabh in the crowd. And even more pleased when he made the top three. Another victim of the Mr. Bette Middler Syndrome, I am hoping Saurabh will happy up in a hurry as well. Welcome back, Saurabh.

So that’s another week down and three more names on that board in Opus, which someone needs to update regularly, no? Saurabh, Roopika and Shwetha, congratulations and get ready for the mad bad world of KroaKing. Err, again, in most cases.

See you all tomorrow. This time, the cynic will try and bring her rose-tinted glasses. But I’m not promising.

For those of you who didn't make it, and for those who want a shortcut to success, here's how you go about it. Radio One, the radio partner for KroaKing 3, has a special on the menu. Call the numbers listed below, and leave a message. Of course, your message has to be a song. The powers-that-be will pick three of the best voices, and those three will make it to the semi-finals of Kroak, purely on the basis of that one phone call. BSNL users can dial 1255594, and other landline and mobile service users can dial 505101094.