Is Nepal hijacking Indian Idol?

Is Nepal hijacking Indian Idol?
The Times of India, 5-Dec-08

When the third edition of Indian Idol 3 ended last year with Prashant Tamang beating his rival Amit Paul, the victory was due to the overwhelming votes that the Darjeeling boy received. Contributing generously to the votes were Tamang’s fans from Nepal who collected funds to send SMSes in his support, at times crossing over into India to vote for their favourite.

Though at least two of the judges – Alisha Chinoy and Javed Akhtar – felt Paul was the better singer, they both had to agree that the final decision was left to the voice of the people.

This year, as Indian Idol 4 is in full swing, is the public voice from Nepal out to swamp the Indian voice?

For the first time in the history of the contest, a mobile telephone company from Nepal has tied up with a publishing company to enable people from Nepal to vote directly from Nepal.

“When Prashant Tamang became the Indian Idol last year ... the people of Nepal had a big hand in Prashant’s win,” announced the local Himalayan Times daily Friday whose publishers International Media Network Nepal Private Ltd has started a scheme with Mero Mobile, Nepal’s sole private mobile phone services provider that was promoted three years ago by deposed king Gyanendra’s son-in-law, to enable direct SMS voting from Nepal.

“This year, Nepali fans of Indian Idol need not go to all this trouble to vote for the next Indian Idol,” the announcement said, referring to the border-crossings. Instead, those wanting to vote can use a Mero Mobile number from Nepal 12 hours daily from Friday to Saturday.

Last year, the enterprising pair had conducted a trial run, which consisted of asking people to predict the winner and win prizes. The direct vote offer comes following the fan frenzy created by Prashant. This year too, there is a contender of Nepali origin among the 14 finalists – Kapil Thapa, the army man from Dehra Dun, and the obvious strategy is to bank on the fan following he might arouse in Nepal.

The question is, can or should the Indian Idol be decided by Nepal? Would America accept the results if Nepalis managed to vote from Nepal or raised funds to abet a Nepali-origin contestant’s victory in American Idols? For that matter, would Nepalis accept it peaceably if Indians vote during the Nepali editions of the Idol in Nepal and push the winner they want?

SMS voting is a bad yardstick due to its sheer anonymity. Perhaps it is time the organisers of Indian Idol give it some thought and lay down guidelines.