Sukhwinder Singh Turns on the Energy at ‘Jai Ho’ Concert By LISA TSERING indiawest.com June 10, 2010 01:44:00 PM
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — “Always leave them wanting more” is an old piece of show business advice that Bollywood singer Sukhwinder Singh took to heart June 6 at an outdoor concert held at Paramount’s Great America. Actress Tanushree Datta made a brief appearance, and the lineup included performances by “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs” contestant Pawni Pandey; vocalist Ishmeet Narula; Punjabi singer Satinder Satti; and entertainer Sunny. The Mona Sampath Dance Company performed a high-energy medley, and Aero Dance offered up an Odissi performance set to the music of “Slumdog Millionaire.” The show, hosted by Kavita Arora and presented by Bikram Jeet Singh and Gary Bahl, featured a lengthy talent show segment titled “Jai Ho Idols” that spotlighted local performers. Out of 138 contestants, just three winners (in child/teen/adult categories) made the final cut: Saarthak Mehra, Pragathi Guruprasad and Rahul Lakhanpal, all confident and self-assured local artists with gorgeous voices. Sukhwinder Singh, the evening’s headliner, was onstage for less than an hour total during the “Jai Ho” concert held at the theme park’s Redwood Amphitheater. Though Singh — a seasoned entertainer and top-notch musician — packed his brief performance with the maximum excitement, many in the audience left disappointed that he did not sing some of his best-loved songs. Missing were “Chaiyya chaiyya,” “Ramta jogi” and “Chak de! India,” though he did perform an extended version of “Fashion ka jalwa” and a couple of songs by composer-director Vishal Bhardwaj — “Beedi” and “Kaminey’s” “Dan tana.” He also sang and danced to “Dard-e-disco,” “Aaj mere jee karda” and “Lucky kabootar.” Despite a history with A.R. Rahman that goes back 12 years, “Jai ho” was the only one of Rahman’s compositions that he performed. Singh burst onstage at around 9:45 p.m., nearly four hours after the show’s posted 6 p.m. start time, dressed in an eye-catching ensemble of golden leather harem pants and a sleeveless hooded sweatshirt, his skin liberally dusted in golden body paint. His expressive face, vibrant hand gestures and folksy sense of humor endeared him to the audience from the start, and some in the front rows even invited him to jump down off the stage into their arms. Singh even started to jump, too — and was quickly thwarted by stern-faced security guards, to the amusement and delight of the audience. “I’m not jumping! Promise!” he told the guard. Later, he tossed out teddy bears to the crowd. “Just a minute,” he said. “Let me take this price tag off; it’s very costly!” Singh shared a story about the recording of “Aaj mere jee karda” that proved to be an illuminating snapshot of the entire evening. He had been called by “Monsoon Wedding” director Mira Nair to record the song, and he showed up late to the recording studio. “This is a Hollywood project, not a Bollywood project,” admonished the Oscar-nominated director, who later caved in to Sukhi’s irrepressible charm and flattery and let him record the song. But Singh’s lateness is a habit that is starting to cause problems. The reason the show started late in the first place, said organizer Bikram Jeet Singh, was that Sukhwinder had missed an early morning flight from Washington, D.C. After arriving at the venue, Singh asked him to get out on stage as quickly as possible, but Sukhwinder wanted to get his costume and makeup on, said Singh. After performing for around 45 minutes, Sukhwinder told the audience that he was taking a “five minute break,” and he returned backstage. The break ended up lasting around 25 minutes and when Sukhwinder finally returned to sing “Jai ho,” his performance was cut short when the lights and sound system were abruptly switched off at 11 p.m. sharp. “He thought we could spare the time,” Bikram Jeet Singh told India-West by phone the following day. “I didn’t know there was a city curfew; the Great America people cut the power off. “I agree with the audience that he should have spent more time. We can’t control the artists.” Singh also said that despite rumors that Sukhwinder had left the stage over a payment dispute, that was absolutely not the case and that Sukhwinder had been paid in full for his performance. The “Jai Ho” concert was to have taken place at Great America on Saturday, May 15, but visa delays in Mumbai caused the show to be postponed, and the only date that Singh could get was June 6, a Sunday night, which he realized was not optimal. “I know that people have to work, and their kids have to get to school, on Monday. I was in a very tight position,” explained Singh. Asked if he’d book Sukhwinder Singh for another show, Singh told India-West, “We’d need to have a concert with more big singers. Sukhwinder alone can’t deliver what people want onstage. If he could come with a group of singers of his caliber, it would make a good concert. I want to thank all the people in the audience for their patience.” http://www.indiawest.com/readmore.aspx?id=2271&sid=5 -- - Regards ~ ~ A.R.Rajib ~ ~
