The fifth season of Indian Idol returns with a new set of hosts and judges in a bigger,more impactful avatar. Anu Malik will be joined by singer Sunidhi Chauhan and music director Salim Merchant (of Salim-Suleiman fame) on the judges panel. The hosts for the audition rounds are Abhijeet Sawant,who won the inaugural edition of the show,and Prajakta Shukre,who came fourth in the first edition of Indian Idol. The judges seem to have direct traits as their compatriots on American Idol. While Malik copies Simon Cowell,Salim has a mellow approach like Randy Jackson while Sunidhi seems to have fit into Paula Abduls shoes. Ajit Thakur,business head of Sony Entertainment Television said,We take tips from American Idol from time to time. Its a reference point for us. This year for the first time,participants will have mentors from the music world teaching them nuances of singing. A Sufi singing round for example,will have a sufi singer mentoring the participants. The channel said that the show will be crisp with the show running from Monday to Thursday so that the show wraps up in 16 weeks. This time,over a lakh participants attended the auditions across the country.Speaking on the launch of the show,N P Singh,COO of Multi Screen Media said,This time,the USP of the show will be our new judges and their chemistry with Anu Malik along with the diverse range of performers weve uncovered.Saim said that the show which gives a chance to moongphaliwalas to become famous will make a rocking season 5 with the channel hoping to capture 50 million eyeballs this time around. It is our biggest show this summer, Man Jit Singh,CEO,Multi Screen Media affirmed. Koffee With Karan will be backKaran Johar has tweeted that the third season of his chat show Koffee With Karan will be back on STAR World from July-August this year. In fact,when the ace director had visited the Screen Chatroom early this year,he had revealed that his show is scheduled to be aired in June-July. There are more scandals and controversies since the previous seasons and it will be chatpata. People want to know why a particular affair is not being acknowledged or why two actresses dont get along, he had said. We cant wait for the show to start!
