YMMA 2008

Part - 1

After watching so many singing talent hunt shows on Television, I have a fair idea about how to choose the best among the given singers. It is the diction, expression and perfection, voice quality and the uniqueness that the voice adds to the songs are those that matter when it comes to singing. And with this in mind, I picked those final nominees but from among those nominees, picking one is again a tough job.

Sriram Parthasarathy for his Uliyin Oosai song is an obvious choice who exactly fulfills all the above mentioned criteria. Singing a song which was originally sung by S.P.B and excelling in his own style is no child’s play and Hariharan has done exactly that with his calming and soothing rendition of the romantic lullaby in ‘Venmegam’ song. Shankar Mahadevan has this ability to beautifully bring out the intended emotions in all ranges and he does it so perfectly in ‘Kaadhal Siluvayil’ song. Listen to him being mellow and subdued as he sings ‘Avaludaiya karpanayai’ and scream and cry as he burst out with ‘Uyir urugum podhu’. Though each singer would be able to fulfill all the criteria I mentioned above, it is the dynamics in the singing and the little touches they add to make the song their own, makes all the difference. It is for this dynamics I chose Haricharan (for Kannil Vanthadhum) and Naresh Iyer (for Uyirilae). Haricharan’s voice culture naturally suits for such somber numbers and he carries the minimally orchestrated ‘Kannil vandhadhum’ song with just his voice. Naresh Iyer’s Uyirilae is much better than Chitra’s ‘Vizhiyilae’, the vulnerability in his voice adds to the longing feel in the song. Tippu is one of the most expressive singers we have today and he oozes romanticism in ‘Solladi’.

Sudha Raghunathan surprised me with her amazing ease and control in singing ‘Anal Mele’ in non-carnatic style. Chinmayi beautifully captures Maari’s longing in her sweet voice for ‘Avaram Poo’ song. Sainthavi has the cutest of voices among the current lot. Her rendition of ‘Yen Unnidam’ song adds to the breeziness of the song. Kalyani has a unique sweetness in her voice and style of singing which is beautifully used in the song ‘Mazhai Nindra’. I also love her Tamil diction. Sadhana Sargam has come a long way from her ‘Snehithanae’ days in Tamil diction and though it is not yet perfect, her rendition made ‘Mukunda’ melody sound sweeter and lighter. And I always get mesmerized when I listen Shreya Ghosal exquisitely crooning the lines ‘Kamatchi kovil munnae’ or ‘Mundhaanai kadhavukullae’ in ‘Aavaram poovukkum’.

A background score piece may be musically good but it will stick to one’s mind and its impact will last only if the visual material is worthy of the background score piece. Uliyin Oosai has some beautiful background score pieces and I heard them while watching the video clips from the movie on YouTube. Yuvan Shankar Raja’s background score for Saroja is just right and neat. Anjathey had a very impressive background score throughout the movie, though there were some moments where the Good Vs Evil theme was overused. But overall a very intriguing background score by Sundar C.Babu. I am surprised by James Vasanthan’s understanding of the use of background score in movies. The recurrent themes are used aptly in the movie, though there were some melodramatic cues towards the end of the movie.

The toughest category for me is Lyrics. According to me, for song lyrics to register in the minds of a listener it should have something special in it and that something may be beautiful stream of meaningful lines falling one after the other in rhyme, simple words conveying deep thoughts, an innovative word play, or an innovative analogy. There is a mix of all these qualities in the nominees I picked for this category. So, I am highly confused.

YMMA 2008 Winners will be announced tomorrow.

.::Wish you all a peaceful New Year::.