Sunday, March 20, 2011

HARIYUDAN NAAN - FINALE


Hariyudan Naan - yaar antha naan? At the end of the mega finale which was held in Sheikh Rashid Auditorium in Indian High School in Dubai we found out the answer to this question. Instead of Naan it was actually Naangal as the Judges selected one female and one male singer. Ravishankar and Lakshmi ended up as the joint winners of this one year old show. The first runner up was Sharanya and the Second Runner up was Gopalakrishnan.


Kartik was voted by viewers through SMS and received highest number of votes though the Judges eliminated him after the second round.


The Grand Finale was started at 6.45 p.m. and ended at 11.45 p.m. It was 5 hours of non-stop entertainment and the entire audience was glued to their seats throughout the show. It was a fantastic event and was very well directed and conducted. Hats off to Director of the show Ms.Subhashree Thanikachalam.

Chinmayee took on the role of Vijay Aadhiraj and compered the Grand Finale.

The evening started with a chorus sung by all the Seven Finalists - Niranjan, Ravishankar, Kartik, Gopalakrishnan, Lakshmi, Sharanya and Bhargavi.

Chinmayee then entertained the audience with two great hits Maiya Maiya and Kilimanjaro. Anush gave the male voice support for the Kilimanjaro song. Anush was specially invited by Hariharan to play the keyboard for the finals.


Sharath then rendered a classical malayalam song which was composed and sung by him last year for which he won the Kerala State Award. His singing was simply superb and extraordinary. The Audience gave him a huge round of applause.James Vasanthan said Sharath is a "Asuran" in singing and composing. James could have better described Sharath as the "Chackravarthy" as "Asuran" is always linked to evil.

Hariharan then came on stage to entertain the audience by rending three songs - viz., Nenjukkul peithidum vaanmazhai; Nilavu paattu nilavu paattu and the great Amitabh Hit - Rang Barusae beege chunaruvaali rang barusae. He wished Happy Holi to all the audience (I do not understand why he chose to sing that song and also wish Happy Holi to a Tamil Audience - may be a national integration effort).

The First Round of the Grand Finale was "Performance Round".
Kartik was the first to sing and he chose "Uyirin Uyire" and sang really well.


Lakshmi chose the song "Who's the Hero who's the hero kaakka vandha vaathiyaaro". She did a splendid job.


Niranjan selected a difficult song "mazhai thuli mazhai thuli mannil sangamam". He handled the song very well.


Bhargavi made a wrong selection and rendered "aiyo pathikichi pathikichi o o penne". This song ensured her elimination from the first round and made the choice for the Judges very easy and simple.


Gopalakrishnan selected "urvasi urvasi take it easy urvasi" and did well.


Sharanya chose the A.R.Rahman hit "konjam nilavu konjam neruppu ondraaga saernthaal enthan degam". She sang exceptionally well.


Ravishankar sang "thathai thathai" from Manmadan. He sang this song with total ease and did a very good job of it.

At the end of the first round the Judges announced the elimination of Bhargavi.

Ranjit came and rendered two songs - "raja raja rocket raja" from Siruthai and the remix "ennoda raasi nalla raasi" from mappillai.

The second round was a medley round wherein the six participants were to sing a few songs (due to time constraints it was kept at 2 - 3 songs instead of 5 songs).

Lakshmi started the round very well with some excellent P.Suseela numbers like "thamizhukku amudendru paer"; "pon ezhil poothathu pudhu vaanil" and "kattodu kuzhal aada aada". These are very soothing melodies of the great P.Suseela and Lakshmi handled the medley exceptionally well.

Kartik was the second to perform with two songs "ennai vittaal yaarum illai kanmaniye unn kai thazhuva" and "chinna chinna kannanukku". I felt he could have chosen some other songs for the medley.

Sharanya chose Ilayaraja hits "edhedho ennam valarthen"; "pani vizhum iravil nanaindhadhu nilavu" and "kalai thendral paadi varum raagam pudhu raagam".

Niranjan chose S.P.B. Hits and sang "aval oru navarasa naadagam"; "mandram vantha thendralukku manjam vara ennam illaiyo" "thaen sindhudhe vaanam" "Idayam oru kovil adhil udhayam oru paadal".

Ravishankar chose Yesudas hits and sang "poo maalai vaangi vandhaal pookkal illaiye"; "uravugal thodarkadai unarvugal sirukadhai" and "unnidam mayangugiren". He did an exceptionally good job and the third song "unnidam mayangugiren" really made the audience spell bound.

Gopalakrishna sang "mazhaiyum neeye veyyilum neeye" from Azhagan and "aen pennendru pirandhai" from Love Today. I felt he could have chosen some other songs.

I was expecting Gopalakrishnan to be eliminated after the second round but to the surprise of several people in the audience Kartik was eliminated by the Judges.

The Third and Final Round was then open for the remaining five singers to render challenging songs.

Lakshmi started the final round with the great all time hit of L.R.Easwari "pattathu raani paarkum paarvai vetrikku thaan ena enna vendum". He sang very well and kept the tempo very well throughout the song.

Niranjan selected the Balamurali Krishna hit song "oru naal podhumaa". He sang exceptionally well and gave a real threat to the other contestants with this number.

Sharanya chose the great all time hit of P.Suseela "Naalai entha velai paarthu odi vaa nilaa". It is a very nice melody of the great legend P.Suseela and Sharanya really sang well.

Gopalakrishnan chose the Hariharan hit number "kaadal theendave - udaya udaya unarugiren". He sang very well but I felt he could have chosen some other song.

Ravishankar then came and sang the great super hit song from Bale Pandiya "neeye unakku endrum nigaraanavan". He handled the song exceptionally well and got the maximum applause from the audience during the song. Once he finished singing the song the audience clapped for almost three minutes non-stop. He was emotionally moved by the applause and standing ovation. I have heard this song being sung in several competitions and programmes but I have never heard anybody sing like Ravishankar with such perfection and ease. It was a fantastic performance.

Hariharan said there is a twist in the story and instead of selecting one winner they have decided to select two. Ravishankar and Lakshmi were chosen as the joint winners of the Hariyudan Naan competition.

The moral of the story is "knowledge of carnatic music and training in classical music is extremely important and essential to become a good singer". Both Ravishankar and Lakshmi have been learining carnatic music and that has helped them a great deal to grasp the tips given by the Judges over the last one year.

I have watched several live shows in my life and this 5 hour show in Dubai for the Grand Finale for Hariyudan Naan will remain as one of the greatest shows seen by me.

20 comments:

  1. Amazing program to watch, thanks for all the feed back given by the judges, not only for the performers but to all those that watch the program too. Congratulations to: Lakshimi and Ravishankar; Vijay for his articulate presenting skills, and encouragement to those performing.
    James, thanks for introducing Aesan female singer to the world! :) We hope to meet you all when we trip to India. Pulen, Anu, Vashi and Delani

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  2. I didn't watch Hariyudan Naan in TV except for few episodes and I am also not watching Super Singer series as these programs have become stale!

    However, a live performance like that one you have watched with a theatrefull audience is something different.

    Last month, our company sponsored a show by Shri Anup Jalota and it was a super evening eventhough the show was only two and half hours long.

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  3. will this program be broadcast in India?

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  4. Yes next week they would show in Jaya TV

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  5. Thank you for your detailed posting.

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  6. Should really appreciate the sincere efforts for such a detailed posting.. Thanks.

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  7. Thanks for the posting. Waiting for the telecast in India

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  8. Thanks for the detailed report posted in your blogspot. We, from India, are awaiting to watch the programme.

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  9. the excellent and unforgettable event organised by Emirates Tamilians Association.. Hats off such great event....

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  10. it is going to telecast on 24 25 26th of March 2001 in Jaya TV IST 9 pm to 10 pm, repeat telecast will be following week for three days... enjoy... thanks to all the members of Emirates Tamilian Association, Dubai

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  11. Fantastic writeup. You have taken me to a virtual tour to Dubai for the programme,

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  12. really a good show. ravi shankar&lakshmi are really talented. and a correct choice by judges.

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  13. What happened to Niranjan..He is a gud singer. It is a pity that he did not win even the 2nd runner up title in spite of some stellar performances in many rounds..

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  14. Niranjan & Bhargavi are the only two contestants in the final who did not get any prize. I also feel bad for Niranjan as he sang very well and deserved a prize but it is really difficult to rank these youngsters as they are all very good.

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  15. I was Searching for Hariudan nan final winner result, thanks for hosting in this blog..

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  16. I live in Bangkok and have been watching the Hariyudan naan peogramme since day one until the unfortunate event of ENCRYPTION happened somewhere in December or January 2011. I have been so desperate to get Jaya TV but didnt succeed. I have missed the finals and the last bit of the programme. Now I am desperately searching in U tube and I cant find the dubai finals. Please help me someonw. Where can I see the entire finals help in dubai?

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  17. I am unable to help you with the request. Jaya TV has already shown the finals and there are no videos available on youtube.

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  18. As I missed the final telecast in Jaya TV and searched web for knowing the winners, I stumbled upon your nice blog.Your post on the finals is very interesting. It described the final event in Dubai in detail. Thanks for the narration and the comments

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  19. I had been watching Hariyudan Naan for the
    past one year non stop. Initially many partici-
    pants were eliminated by judges Tippu,Harini
    James Vasanthan and Dharan. Then Uma Ramanan
    was added as the fifth judge. I reserve my
    comments on their judgment; perhaps Uma Ramanan
    was better amongst the five. James Vasanthan
    was a bit harsh with few of the contestants.

    Now coming to the finals in Dubai, instead of
    Gopalakrishnan, it could have been Niranjan
    for the second runner up; and in place of
    Lakshmi, they should have selected Sharanya
    who maintained good standard throughout the
    competition.

    There should have been a seasoned Music Director
    to join the finals selection as is the general
    practice all over.

    PC RAMABADRAN may 2,2011

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