Asianet's talent hunt program - Idea Star Singer, today had all the judges praising ARR and recollecting their experiences. The judges were M.G.Sreekumar, Sharath (Malayalam MD), Usha Uthup and actress Padmapriya.
There is a "Favorite musician's round", where the singer will have to sing a song of his favorite MD. One participant chose ARR. Usually when a contestant tells his fav MD's name, the judges will ask "why you like this MD?" etc. But when ARR's name was mentioned, MG.Sreekumar said you dont need to say why ARR is your favorite. He is everyone's favorite. Then went on to tell his own experience with ARR's music. That everytime he get a new ARR album, he wouldnt like it first time. Then he would listen in his car 2-3 times, and then the songs get stuck into his head, and would never seem to go out in his lifetime. He called ARR's music a mesmerizing experience. Then came the turn of Sharath, who recollected an interesting story. Way back in 1995, one day, popular Malayalam singer Venugopal called him and told very excited that he has finally managed to sing a song for ARR. When asked which song, he replied "Kuchi Kuchi Rakkamma". Few days later another noted singer Krishnachandran called and said he has sung a song for ARR, "Kuchi Kuchi Rakkamma". Again after a few days, singer Srinivas called and said the same thing - that he has sung for ARR finally and song is "kuchi Kuchi Rakkamma". Again after a few days, a new singer Chandrasekhar called and said that he has sung for ARR, and SHrath asked him back "is it Kuchi Kuchi Rakkamma?!!". And finally when the song came out, it was in Hariharan's voice. SHarath told this story to higlight ARR's quest for perfection. Usha Uthup talked about her experience recording for Daud. Sukhwinder Singh was the lyricist and she said she had a wonderful time recording with ARR and Sukhwinder. It was a really great to see the respect for ARR and his music among other musicians. :-) Thanks, Vinod http://www.arr4music.com
