Pakistan Idol Week 08 – Piano Round 03!

Finally another one of those interesting episodes filled with some amazing performances. I must say this lot performed great too & had been the most versatile one when it came to the song selection, but the very first group remains my favorite till date.

I must say that I was really disappointed by some of the remarks that the judges made. One thing they need to understand is that these are just the contestants, out of which so many have never had any professional training in singing, so if they choose songs of a certain renowned singer, they shouldn’t judge the contestant based on how the actual song was sung by the professional singer. They shouldn’t compare a novice contestant who is still in a process of learning to the singer who has already made a mark in this field. Even though I was disappointed by the song choices some of the contestants made but they tried to do what they could so the judges should’ve judged them on the basis of their vocals & not on how the professional singers performed the songs.

The commentary on the contestants who performed today is as follows:

Ali Asad Zaidi (AZ) from Karachi performed the song ‘Meinnu Tere Naal’ of Najam Shiraz. He was flawless & probably he was the best one in this whole lot. He got 3 wows from Ali Azmat & he was all praises for this young boy, even Bushra Ansari enjoyed his singing but Hadiqa Kiyani wasn’t impressed at all, she wasn’t even seen applauding for him whereas the other two judges raved about how he sang the song. He was amazing & he chose the song wisely which he knew he could convey perfectly.

Umer Aftab (UA) from Lahore sang ‘Khamaaj’ of Shafqat Amanat Ali. I think he was flawless in his singing & sang such a difficult song with ease but all the three judges didn’t approve of his choice because they compared his singing to Shafqat Amanat Ali’s. I think he justified the song & sang it really well but it looked like the judges were trying to influence the audience against him whereas he was better than couple of other contestants.

Fayeza Rashid (FR) from Lahore sang Reshma’s song ‘Haye O Rabba’. She wasn’t impressive even though the song suited her tone but she couldn’t sing it well at all. She came up with a lot of explanations that almost sounded like an excuse but what hit me the most was that the judges didn’t even pinpoint a single mistake of hers & instead Hadiqa covered for her by saying she looked nervous & stuff. I think if that’s the case then all the contestants should get a leeway based on the nervousness they experience. She wasn’t good but judges were worst when it came to judging her because they didn’t point the obvious & rather hoped she gets the votes because she performed well in the PAST.

Asad Raza Soni (RS) from Lahore sang ‘Aye Khuda Jab Bana’ from the Indian movie ‘1920 Evil Returns’. His performance was once again a good one in fact he was great. All the judges were impressed & no doubt he was impressive, he chose a song that fitted his tone well plus the power with which he projected his voice was amazing too. I think this was the very first performance of the day which Hadiqa liked otherwise she wasn’t too impressed by the previous 3 performances.

Shahmir Aziz Quidwai (SQ) from Islamabad sang Ali Azmat’s ‘Garaj Baras’. What & why did he do this to himself? I think the biggest mistakes the contestants of Pakistan Idol have made so far is that they have picked the songs they LIKE, not the songs that they can PERFORM. This is exactly what happened with Shahmir. His voice is not at all suitable for rock songs because he sounded too soft for it even though he used enough force for the projection but his voice tone wasn’t complimenting the essence of the song. This is exactly what the judges said & rightly so. Not at all an impressive performance.

Seemab Arshad (SR) from Gujrat sang Shafqat Amanat Ali’s ‘Ye Hosla’ which was for a Hindi movie ‘Dor’. I must say he was very wise in a song selection becauseit suited the quality of his tone. All the judges were impressed but I agree with Bushra Ansari that it looked like he sang it in a hurry whereas the pace of the song is a bit slow as compared to the pace he picked. But nevertheless, he was impressive.

Ghazal Ali (GA) from Karachi chose the song ‘Namak Ishq Ka’ of the Indian movie ‘Omkara’. She once again was wise in a song selection because it matched her tone but I am not sure if it was a suitable choice especially to be heard & liked by the Pakistani audience because this is exactly what happened with Mehwish Maqsood, she may have chosen a song to show her range & versatility but it wasn’t liked by the people. Even though the judges liked Ghazal’s performance but we still have to see if she gets votes or not. I think she has declined ever since the auditions because I was actually rooting for her but right now I am not sure because others have performed way better than her.

Zamad Baig (ZB) from Mandi Bahauddin sang Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s ‘Kali Kali Zulfon’. I must commend him for again choosing a song which suited his tone & he justified it completely. The judges liked his performance too & no one had any mistake to pinpoint. No doubt his voice quality was unique & just because of the song he chose, it became self-explanatory.

So, this was it from tonight’s episode. I must say once again so many amazing performances & only 3 get to go through based on the votings. Looking at the results from the last week, I really am not sure what will happen & who will the judges give their vote to, so let’s wait but I do wish that Umer Aftab gets qualified because his singing was definitely great & he didn’t get the remarks he deserved. Other than him, Ali Asad Zaidi, Asad Raza Sonu, Seemab Arshad & Zamad Baig were great too, so the choice must be made from these 5 only, girls weren’t impressive so I hope they don’t get the chance just to fill the quota of girls in the Gala round like Mehwish Maqsood & Sana Zulfikar.

My favorite obviously from this lot has to be Ali Asad Zaidi & Umer Aftab. Who did you like, share you opinion. :)

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Zahra Mirza

Zahra Mirza got associated with Reviewit.pk in 2012. After moving to Australia, Pakistani content was a way of staying connected to the roots, language & Pakistani culture because it felt home. Eight years ago, review writing began as a hobby but has now turned into a passion.