Sony unveils its X Factor

Having regained lost audience share over the past one year,the channel is gearing up to showcase its X Factor to competition.

Announcing the launch of X Factor India,Sonys new business head and senior EVP Sneha Rajani,compared the show with Indian Premier League. I am wrapping up IPL on MAX but starting another IPL on Sony. X Factor is nothing less than IPL because it is all about extraordinary talent and extraordinary skill. X Factor,which is a rage in the UK and a runaway hit in 24 countries with over 500 million viewers,is a sure Big Daddy of all singing shows in size and scale. Thats what the channel and production house Fremantle Media claim.

What gives them confidence in the product is,not only its success in the international market,but its sheer scale,mounting,production design,execution,variety of talent and transformation journey of participants from ordinary to extraordinary. According to Sanjay Leela Bhansali,well-known filmmaker and one of the judges on the show,he has made films which have had lavish mountings but he hasnt seen a television show that has been mounted so lavishly. Sonu Niigaam,a veteran of several singing talent hunts,including Indian Idol,doesnt disagree. I have hosted and judged music shows that truly represented music but stopped doing them when they became TRP gimmicks. This show is not about ratings but pure singing. From talent,scale and size,it has everything. Its going to be the biggest ever show on TV, he promises. For Shreya Ghoshal,the third judge on the show,X Factor is going to be a journey down memory lane. The well known singer was discovered in a talent hunt in the late 1990s and was given break in playback singing by fellow judge Bhansali.

Right from the auditions,the show raises the bar to a new level and the concert-like atmosphere will add a new dimension to the performances. The contestants who survive the first auditions graduate to boot camp and will then be divided into three categories – 16 to 25 years,individuals over 25 years and groups. Each category will be mentored by one of the three judges.

Story continues below this ad

The show went on air on May 29 and will play out as a seven-day strip in the first week for the audition episodes and subsequently will become a weekend show from June 10. Interestingly,Sony which has had a good year after shifting weekend properties like Indian Idol and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa to weekdays in May last year is slotting X Factor on its weekend band. Ask for the reason and pat comes Snehas reply,Because we have another show coming on weekdays from next week. Sonys head of programming Ajay Bhalwankar explains it better,Each episode is like a big concert. In terms of audio and visual effects,with talent cutting across different ages and genres of singing and the concert-like atmosphere make it an ideal family viewing experience on weekends.

Apparently,after successfully creating a one-hour strip of differentiated programming through non-fiction shows from Monday to Thursday for viewers wanting to sample other than fiction,Sony is once again trying to rebuild its weekend band for those crucial extra GRPs which will help fight competition and take the channel to the number three slot. While X Factor will be telecast on Friday and Saturday,long-running comedy brand Comedy Circus will be moved to Sunday which will also have an additional episode of Adaalat. As Sneha claims,If not the number two,we will certainly become the number three GEC in coming months.