Indian Idol recap: Episode 19

Wild cards have been a routine, almost predictable, part of Indian Idol. Until now.
This time around the judges did the unpredictable—first they chose five contestants instead of three, then they chose the songs the five wild cards had to sing so that they could pick the best three, and, finally, they gave the contestants just one hour to practice before their performance. Talk about pressure.
But the five wild cards were ready for the challenge—with some help from their voice trainer and their fellow Top 10 contestants.
First up was Mohit with Jashn e bahar. Though he had never sung the song before, he gave a decent performance and was convinced that he would make it into the galas. But Annu had a problem with his song: Mohit had not sung it in the original scale. “The competition is tough and you should have gone that extra mile,” said the judge.
Bhavya knew that her every sahi sur would be a rung on her ladder to success. She met the challenge head on with Aisa lagta hai . She understood the judges were seeking a new dimension in her because she had not sung a romantic song on the Indian Idol stage so far. Though the judges decided to reserve their judgement until all the contestants had sung, Ananya passed hers: Bhavya had sung better than Mohit.
Charit followed with Yeh shyaam mastani. And though he felt the judges zaroor meherbaan honge, his friend Priyanka was not as considerate. She felt Bhavya had performed better than Charit.
When Shini had heard the song the judges had chosen for her, she had been excited. According to the shaadi shuda girl, her mother had sung it constantly and she had always loved it. But she was not sure if she could better her mother.
But better her she did! Hussain was so taken by her song Jayiye aap kahan that he wanted to know if Shini had hidden a CD somewhere nearby. Torsha seconded Hussain’s praise—she felt Shini had sung better than Bhavya.
Lat but not the least was Prasenjit. And Mr Kosambi had been given the toughest challenge yet by the judges—he had to sing Ajho ne aaye balma, a tough song to sing under any circumstance, and an almost impossible song to master in an hour.
But he faced the do or die situation with aplomb and delivered a powerful performance. Remo was so impressed that he said Prasenjit should have been sitting in his place.
After heated debates and arguments, the judges decided on the finalists. They okayed Prasenjit and Mohit, but said no to Charit. With two contestants finalised, it meant one of the girls would have to go home. But then Annu pulled an ace from his sleeve—instead of choosing the Top 13, they had decided to have the Top 14 this time. Which meant both Shini and Bhavya were through to the galas.
Of course, this does mean that the first gala will have two eliminations instead of the standard one. But then, who cares about that now? The contestants were too busy cutting Bhavya’s ‘belated’ birthday cake, along with Annu Malek. Party on, we say! Worrying about the galas’ elimination can wait another few days.