The selection has been announced. Ranjani, and Vijay had moved into the wildcard by default. The three judges have made their choice for the wild card round. Shreeni has chosen Santosh, Sujatha has chosen Prasanna, and Unni has gone with RaginiSri.
Note that the wildcard round has a voting from the viewers, so we might need to wait more than two weeks before we know who the finalist would be from these five.
Voting also puts an unfair advantage for participants who are already popular with the audience. I am not sure how much the performance in the wildcard round would affect the voting. Santosh would feel this handicap more as he was eliminated early and was not part of the final rounds. So he will have to pull in a major performance to upset the other four. Ranjani and Vijay have made to the last step and so they fresh in the minds of the audience. RaginiSri's exit in the unplugged strings round was disappointing to many (esp. after her brilliant performance in classical and western rounds), so some of her supporters would love see her back in the finals. I reserved Prasanna for the last for obvious reasons! Having the popular Prasanna in the mix is bad news for Vijay, Ranjani and Santosh! RaginiSri is the only one who can give Prasanna a run for the money.
Given that these are the five singers, what do you think they should sing in the wildcard round?
Prasanna: Personally I would love to see him sing a sad song in this round. The song should also have nice variations (not monotonous) and have deep meaning lines. I think Prasanna is the only one in the group that can carry a song like that. A song like "oora therunkitten olagam purinkitten kanmani en kanmani" (Padikkatavan). But in reality, I think he will go with a peppy number to bring down the house! Whatever it takes to get the votes in!
Vijay: I would prefer to see him sing some kind of folk song. Something outlandish, Rajasthani type of song. I think he gets so involved in those types of songs. He has the power to move you in high pitched songs interlaced with detailed notes. He can also go for some upbeat number as he is capable to engaging the audience. But choosing a song where no one knows the lyrics of the song would be to his advantage!! (he always messes up the lyrics!).
Ranjani: I wish Ranjani would choose an song from yesteryears from PSusheela. Something like "gangai karai thottam kanni pengal kootam" (Vaanampadi). There is ample scope for her to show her talents -- sangatis, tune, high sustaining notes and more importantly a variety of emotions! It would be divine to hear this song again in Ranjani's powerful voice.
RaganiSri: She can sing so many varieties. Best would a song in the western genre in which she can showcase her voice very well. She can use that break in this voice very well and it would fit nicely in a westernized song. Wonder if she has tried "sei yethavathu sei" (Billa) on stage before -- it would be great to sing that song. Or she can even go a semi-classical in the mold of MLV and leave a powerful impact. She can surprise us with any song like she did in the uravugal sound or classical round. Would love to see her do a "googly" again!
Santosh: He has to go for a soulful number. Hope he stays away from kuthu and fast songs. Wonder if he will sing the "enna solla pogirai" (Kandukondain Kandukondain) and hit the high notes. It would be great to hear him sing this song of his idol. He can get the right feel, and I have seen him hit the high notes which would go straight to the listener's heart.
That is my take on what I would like to hear them sing in the wild card to get my vote!
Good luck to all!
