12#: Stylish & Sizzling Singer of SSG...

[Discaimer: Those of you, who are new to my blog, please read the entries before this entry. The posts follow a reverse order so you would have to read the previous one's to keep the flow. Thank you]

When I saw her singing “ammaney” (an Arabic song by Diana Hadded) for her 1st auditions, I immediately had an image conjoured up of how she would be…talkative…smart…and a really good performer! Little did I know that I was in for a surprise regarding the former two matters!

The very first grooming through the melody rounds…through the performance rounds…she hardly spoke!! We all called her the smartest one of the lot… guess why?? :) ‘cause she was the only one who was savinbg her energy by not blabbering away! Hehehe…. Oh.. I still haven’t told you who this is yea…. Stylish and Sizzling singer of SSG…Sajla Salim..

It was not that she was an introvert or anything of that sort…she spoke to us… but only after weeks! By the time we hit the performance rounds she got the hang of our jokes and non-sensical talks…and contributed in her own little ways too!! :) I always wondered…how does a quite girl like her go up on that stage and perform like a Bomb??!! Amazing… split personality have we got here? .. Hehe… just kidding dear…

Her dresses were another attraction for all of us. Each time she managed to think of some different style and that too apt for the song she sang…apparently her aunt designs them for her…Great aunty!! :)

[What a coincidence..I am bloggin about Sajla..and her song “Oh January” is playing on my radio right this instance.. No jokes!! ]

I haven’t interacted personally with her neither, so if you ask me how much I know Sajla..I’d say…just as much as you guys do! :) But the day she got eliminated, that was when I was given my lifeline, I did feel bad for her…don’t know why…as in…maybe it was just ‘cause we both were the “performers” among the girls there and when she got out…I thought I’d be the next one. Well… I’m sure she is still doing a lot of stage shows…and seizes the audience with her super performances!! All the very best to you dear!

I hope you guys had a “mind-full” of entries to compensate for my loooooong absence :)

Coming up next: My Karthik of SSG…

Until then…Keep smiling & Keep Browsing!!:)

Adios!

SSG (space) Rashmi

#11: The "Rythm House" of SSG...

[Discaimer: Those of you, who are new to my blog, please read the entries before this entry. The posts follow a reverse order so you would have to read the previous one's to keep the flow. Thank you]





A powerful singer…with a powerful voice…has a powerful rhythm sense… We’re talking about…Charu Hariharan!

This young lady is like any other seventeen year old…sweet, emotional, sensitive (at times to an extent where I told her I’d slap her if she thinks low of herself!!) and more than anything…extremely loving and caring. Once she gets attached to a person its very difficult for her to break free…she completely depends on you for moral support. She’s the kind who doesn’t realize her strengths at times and needs someone to really push her up from behind to keep her going.

When I saw her I didn’t think she would turn out to be so sensitive, but poor girl when I saw her crying the first time she messed up one of her melody rounds, I felt so sorry for her. And I couldn’t help but go and do my “counseling” bit (yea yea… I know I sound like a granny but …can’t help these basic instincts you see!hehe!).







Of course we all knew she was Arundathi aunty, the famous singer’s daughter, but very few of us knew that she was a Mridangist as well. And boy !!does she play well or what??!! Here’s a teeny weeny glisme of one of our grooming sessions I managed to capture with my cybershot. I’m extremely sorry for the bad lighting In the video…but the audio is good …atleast I could capture it (which even ATV couldn’t ..HAH!) Enjoy!




(sorry..but youtube is showing a slight problem right now :(...will upload it soon..and then put a notice...till then you can go to this website and watch it.. I uploaded it there. http://www.4shared.com/dir/5767869/6022b61f/sharing.html )

She was an ace when it came to “taalam” even Stephen chettan sometime’s asked her whether the Mridangam portions he set up were sounding alright or not!!

The most enjoyable time I had was when both she & Latha stayed over in my room at the hotel one night. You know how it is yea when girls stay over? Or maybe you don’t…either way you gotta experience it to know what I mean!! (all the ladies will be with me on this one right? ) OH MY GOD….those two kept irritating each other and laughing and giglling the whole night..and kept pushing me till I was almost going to topple over from the bed to the ground! Hehe! What fun we had! Miss all that now!! :(

Charu’s exit happened in a totally unexpected manner. Those of you who saw the show would have known I’m sure. But poor thing I mean…what could she have done? On one side she had a concert which was not confirmed for over months and then she got selected for SSG for which she had no clue she’s stay on that long, and then all of a sudden those people who wanted her to perform at an international concert call her back…and since it was a previously committed event…she couldn’t back out. After all she has to do her duty as a musician as well right? I know how terrible you felt about leaving the show sweety…and trust me…we all missed you as much as you missed being on the show!!

She came regularly to cheer us for a couple of weeks except those weekends when she was busy with college. We shared good times together and I’m glad to have interacted with her…I loved her attitude. Keep that spirit going on sis!! You’ll do wonders I bet!!! :)

Coming up next: ‘Sylish Sizzling Singer’ of SSG…




Until then…Keep Smiling & Keep Browsing!! :)



Adios!



SSG (space) Rashmi

#10: My Sharjah Buddy...

[Discaimer: Those of you, who are new to my blog, please read the entries before this entry. The posts follow a reverse order so you would have to read the previous one's to keep the flow. Thank you]

You won’t believe but for about 4-5 melody rounds we sang one after the other or vice versa….and then once they started the “safe” & “danger” zone session… he kept falling in the danger zone when he sang before/after my performance.. hehe! And was safe when he didn’t! Like it was jinxed or something!! But still…those few moments before performing we always made sure that we wouldn’t be gloomy…and would be completely relaxed!! I used to make both him and Amal do mimicry for me…just before going on stage!! Yea…that was my way of keeping calm…

Not only was he a powerful performer, Deepak was also a very good friend. His best buddy Harib used to accompany him most of the time…and he also became really close to all of us. Although Deepak and I have never interacted personally all that much…we were there to help each other out…I know he was there to help me with my pitching and hitting those high notes…thanks a ton for that bud! :)

He was a very witty fellow and had real quick and smart answers to anything I asked/said! I remember that ragging session we shot…I was the one who started ragging him…and I had asked him whether he had some nerve twitching problem in his eyebrows ‘cause every time he sang he kept twitching one of his eyebrows up purposely!! And he was the one who told me to enact like an “ottagam from dufayi”!! That’s what I call ragging!! Hehe!!

His elimination was a very sad one indeed…especially when he gave such a brilliant performance with “Sree Lathikakal”…and looked dashing in that Black kurta of his. The minute he finished singing that song and after hearing the judges comment both Roopa chechi and I had a strong feeling that something was not right…we were hoping he should not be eliminated….and what we feared happened! The worst was…his calmness…he took it sooo well!!! I had nearly created a mini swimming pool with my tears while he stood there rock steady with that smile on his face. Amazing guy I tell you!

In a way he was happy he got eliminated at that point ‘cause he had his bunch of friends waiting for him in B’lore to join them at Infosys…and if he stayed on SSG longer…he would have lost that chance…well…everything happens for a reason now doesn’t it!

By the way those of you who are still unaware of the fact that Deepak and a few of his buddies from college have released an album called “O’live” please do download and listen to the beautiful tracks from that album…my personal fav is this one “En Nenjil”…where Deepak does the vocals for the opening stanza…brilliant stuff guys!! Way to go!!! All the best for your future projects my dear!!! Keep rocking like you always do…

Coming up next: The ‘Rhythm house’ of SSG!! :)

Until then…Keep smiling & Keep browsing!!! :)

Adios!

SSG (space) Rashmi

#9: Youngest Lad of SSG

[Discaimer: Those of you, who are new to my blog, please read the entries before this entry. The posts follow a reverse order so you would have to read the previous one's to keep the flow. Thank you]

We both came from the same place…Palakkad. He is a smart young lad of 16…one with a gifted voice and a charming personality…Prasobh…the youngest boy on SSG.

Initially I thought he was very quiet and “to-himself” types, but as we got talking and BOY did we get talking…I realized that he was way mature for his age and had a clear idea of what he wanted to do in life. He worked really hard each week for the show and the poor thing had to cope with his 12^th grade studies as well.

We both had this nice long trip to Palakkad and then back to Trivandrum again one week….and we had soo much fun! You know 8 hours of traveling…if you’re alone you could go insane!!! We talked for almost half the journey, then the other half he browsed through my Creative Zen and then we dozed off. I did take some pretty decent shots of his on the train…you know me and my photography bug…hehe..it pops up all the time!!:-)

His best bud on the show was Amal.Oh God! The two of them together can bring the house down! I’m not joking people! Prashanth ettan, Prasobh’s elder bro was his inspiration. And the kind of relationship the 2 shared was that of friends. It was so nice to watch them talk. And if Prasobh’s a little down…more than pepping him up someone has to pep Prashanth Ettan up…its like we can actually feel like the invisible bond that connects the 2 of them. Amazing! Missed my sis (cousin) a lot right then!

When Prasobh bade farewell to all of us again he acted way mature for his age…and even though most of us were in tears he smiled all the way. Poor Amal was heart-broken to see his best friend leave. But I am sure that at 16 if this boy is able to sing marvelously…then he would be at his peak if he manages to keep up this work. And I do hope and pray he does. All the melodies he has sung on the show, “Sree Raagamo”, “Devanganangal”, “Pachamalr pole” and more, were my favourites. Especially the last song he performed “Satrangee re”.. oh my God.. I had goose-bumps when he sang “Mujhe Moth Ki Godh Mein Sone De…”.. what feel….and that too for a 16 year old to express it…Mind Blowing!! I love your dedication dear… keep singing like this…and I hope to see you bloom in the music industry someday…All the Very best… from your Chechi!:-)

I sure did miss traveling in the train with him. And missed him “passing remarks” during the grooming sessions. And missed pulling his legs. Well…good things never last too long now do they?

Once again I’m sorry for the delay of my post…but you guys would already know the reason if you read my previous entry ;-)

Coming up next: My Sharjah Buddy…

Till Then…Keep Smiling & Keep Browsing!!:-)

Adios!

SSG (space) Rashmi