Super Singer Junior season 2

The second season of Airtel Super Singer Junior - Thamizhagathin Chellakuralukkana Thedal (the search for the sweet voice of Tamil Nadu) premiered on 22 June 2009. The music competition reality TV show was again telecast on Vijay TV, and Bharti Airtel returned to sponsor this show. Episodes were telecast between Monday and Thursday each week at 9:00 pm. Children aged 6 years to 14 showcased their singing talent. The show initially promised that its winner would receive ₹25 lakhs (2.5 million Rupees) in prize money, which was later changed to a villa in Anugraha Satellite Town valued at ₹25 lakhs by its sponsor, Navashakthi Township and Developers.
Following playback singer Chinmayi's decision to stop hosting Vijay TV's Super Singer earlier in the year, various television anchors including Dhivyadarshini (DD), Sivakarthikeyan, Aishwarya Prabhakar, and Uma Padmanabhan hosted the show at various intervals, and playback singer Dhivyadarshini (DD) appeared regularly during the season as a replacement. Ananth Vaidyanathan returned as a voice trainer, and playback singer K. S. Chithra returned as a permanent judge of the show. Playback singers Mano, and Malgudi Subha also joined the show as permanent judges to replace Usha Uthup who quit the show.
A number of eminent playback singers and music directors appeared during the season as guest judges, including P. B. Sreenivas, P. Susheela, M. S. Viswanathan, S. Janaki, Sadhana Sargam, Nithyasree Mahadevan, Suchithra, Harish Raghavendra, Unni Menon, Madhu Balakrishnan, Sowmya, Pop Shalini, and Pushpavanam Kuppuswamy. Stars from the senior version of the show also appeared as judges during the season, including former contestants Naresh Iyer, Nikhil Mathew, and Ajeesh, and permanent judges P. Unnikrishnan, Anuradha Sriram and Srinivas. The winner Alka Ajith, was introduced as a playback singer in the 2011 Malayalam-language film The Train.
The grand opening week was hosted by Malini and Yugendran. Former contestants from Airtel Super Singer 2008 and the debut season of Airtel Super Singer Junior participated in a week-long competition to promote and celebrate the opening of season 2 of the show.
Open auditions for the season commenced in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, according to the then-official website of the show. Contestants in each round were either spot-selected, rejected, or wait-listed until the conclusion of that round. Each of these rounds were hosted by Divyadarshini.
The top 25 contestants were selected from the final round of auditions.
The main competition comprised a series of performance rounds on successive weeks, from 23 September 2009 to 27 May 2010, with occasional break weeks. Typically each round had four episodes telecast Monday to Thursday, with a contestant eliminated at the end of the last show that week.
This round required the top 25 contestants to perform a song of their choice.
The top 25 contestants were required to provide duet or trio performances in celebration of the Hindu festival Navarathri.
For the episodes telecast on 29 and 30 September, musical performances were of a South Indian theme. Unlike usual weeks, the contestants and guest performers sat on seats at one side of the stage so that the Bharatha Natyam students who were dancing to the song took centre stage.
In the episode telecast on 1 October, the art of dandiya dance was taught to contestants by Mansi Bhat who together with the judges and host danced on stage before the commencement of music performances. Musical performances were of a North Indian theme.
– Non-competition performance
The 5–8 October round required the 25 contestants to perform songs of a koothu style. Those selected in the top five were safe from elimination. At the conclusion of the performances, the judges eliminated a contestant from the competition.
There was no elimination in this show on 14 October.
The 19–22 October round required the 24 remaining contestants to perform melody-based songs. The 22 October episode featured compositions of A. R. Rahman. The top-five performers were safe from elimination. At the conclusion of the performances, the judges eliminated a contestant.
The 26–29 October round required the 23 remaining contestants to perform songs which fit the theme of rain.
The 2–5 November round had the theme of Pira Mozhi Paadalgal (English: other language songs). The 22 remaining contestants were required to perform songs which were in a language other than Tamil. At the conclusion of the week, a contestant was eliminated.
The 9–12 November round required the 21 remaining contestants to perform Raajaavin Ramyamaana Raagangal (English: Ilaiyaraaja's pleasant melody songs) from movies released in the 1970s and 1980s. The 10 November episode celebrated the 44th birthday of judge Mano, with his family appearing on the show.
The 16–19 November round divided the 20 remaining contestants into a team of males and another of females. Voice trainer Ananth Vaidyanathan, who trained contestants in the latter rounds of the previous season, began training this season's contestants. He requested the judges to not eliminate any contestants this week, and the judges agreed.
The 23–25 November episodes featured a Mottukalin Mettukal round for the remaining 20 contestants. At the end of this week's performance, Sanjana was eliminated from the competition.
The 30 November – 2 December round celebrated the Hindu festival Karthigai Deepam, and required the 19 remaining contestants to sing film songs which fit in the Carnatic music ("classical") genre.
Carnatic music advocate and playback singer Nithyasree Mahadevan made her first appearance on the show as a special guest judge for this round. The special guest judges granted four contestants immunity from this week's elimination. Students receiving formal training in Bharatha Natyam danced while each contestant performed.
At the conclusion of this week's performances, the special guest judges decided to waitlist the bottom five contestants and would not eliminate any contestant based on their performances. Consequently, the bottom five contestants were required to perform in a "waitlist challenge" the following week, at which time an elimination would be decided.
The bottom five contestants from the previous week were required to perform in a "waitlist challenge" in the first episode of the week. SSJ09 Vishnucharan was ill and considered the weakest performer, but the judges decided the contestant should receive immediate formal training in Carnatic music for his development as a musician rather than being eliminated.
The remaining episodes of 7–10 December round required the 19 contestants to perform songs from movies which starred Rajinikanth in celebration of his birthday. At the conclusion of the week, another contestant was eliminated.
For the 14–17 December round, the remaining 18 contestants were required to perform duet performances: first a "melody" song then a "peppy" song. Contestants who were spot-selected by the judges were seated on the "silver sofa", designating them as guest performers in next week's show, receiving immunity from this and next week's eliminations.
The 21–24 December special round was a non-elimination showcase by all 25 of the main competition contestants.
The 28–31 December round required the remaining 17 contestants to perform songs which various South Indian singers had used to debut as playback singers in Tamil cinema (a.k.a. "Kollywood"). Sharath and Ovviya were not required to compete as they had been granted immunity from the previous week's duet round. Additionally, five contestants were spot selected. Consequently, one contestant was eliminated from the remaining ten contestants.
In special episodes on 31 December 2009 and 1 January 2010, the remaining 16 contestants performed with former contestants of the junior and senior versions of the show. This was a non-elimination round with no judges.
The 4–7 January round.
The 11–14 January round was in celebration of the Pongal festival, and required contestants to perform Graamiya Padalgal (English: village songs).
The 18–21 January round required the remaining 15 contestants to sing old film songs which had been remixed in new films. Film stars Karthi and Andrea Jeremiah made their first appearance on the show to promote the movie Aayirathil Oruvan.
At the end of the week's performances, the bottom four contestants were waitlisted and required to perform in a waitlist challenge at the beginning of the following round.
– Non-competition performance – Contestant was in the bottom four
The episode telecast on 25 January featured the waitlist challenge between the bottom four contestants from the previous week's performances. However, there was no elimination. The judges warned the weakest performers, Sowmya and Ovviya, that either would be eliminated if a bottom performer again.
The 26–28 January episodes featured performances of songs penned by poet Subramania Bharathiyar and other songs of Indian patriotism. Personal secretary to the late Mahatma Gandhi, Mr V.S. Kalyanam, appeared as a special guest. At the conclusion of the performances, in celebration of the Independence Day theme, no contestants were eliminated.
The 1–4 February round required the remaining 15 contestants to perform songs on a theme of kings and queens. The comperes, voice trainer, permanent judges, and contestants dressed as ancient Indian kings and queens, and spoke in Middle Tamil. Viewers expressed positive comments about the concept and were later disappointed that the following two seasons of the show did not repeat the round to the same high standard. During the 2 February episode, dancer Priyadarshini gave a special performance to a medley of songs.
The 8–11 February round required the remaining 14 contestants to sing a series of songs in a medley form.
The 14–18 February Kaadhal Geethangal (English: love songs) round was split over two parts. First requiring contestants to sing a duet in pairs, then to sing another song as a solo performance. Judges granted immunity to the strongest duet performers, who were not required to give a competitive solo performance.
In the 15 February episode, Prem and Hamsadhwani, winners of the first season of the Vijay TV dance competition reality show, appeared as special guests. The duet performance of Nithyashree and Shrihari was dedicated to them, and followed by a brief duet dance by Nithyashree and Prem.
In the 16 February episode, Badava Gopi and Haritha Gopi appeared as special guests. The duet performance of Prasanna Sundar and Srinisha Jayaseelan was dedicated to them. Carnatic vocalist and playback singer Charulatha Mani and her husband Karthick also appeared as special guests. The trio performance by Shrikanth, Ovviya and Sharath was dedicated to them.
In the 17 February episode, Pushpavanam Kuppuswamy and Anitha Kuppuswamy appeared as special guests.
The 22–25 February Bhakthi Padalgal (English: devotional songs) round required the remaining 12 contestants to perform songs from the devotional genre. The first song was required to have been released in film. Contestants who were not spot-selected after their first song were required to perform a second song which had not yet been released in film.
In the second and third episodes this week, devotional playback singer L. R. Eswari appeared on the show as a guest judge and guest performer. Pastor Alwyn Thomas also appeared on the show for a special guest performance in the third episode of the round. In the fourth and final episode of the round, devotional singer Veeramani Raju appeared as a guest judge and guest performer. The compere for this round also provided a special performance in this episode before contestant SSJ06 Prasanna Sundar delivered a well-received performance of a "rare" and "difficult" song popularised by Nithyasree Mahadevan.
The 1–4 March round promoted the release of the film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon and starring actor Silambarasan ("Simbu"). The first part of the round required the remaining 11 contestants to sing songs from Tamil films directed by Menon, who appeared as a special guest judge. Playback singer Vijay Prakash gave a special performance to open the round. The second part of the round required the contestants to sing songs from films starring actor Simbu.
The 8–11 March round marked there being 10 remaining contestants and had no elimination. Instead, special prizes of ₹1 lakh (100,000 rupees) were awarded to the best male and best female performance from the round. The prizes went to Shrikanth for male performance and was split between Alka Ajith and Nithyashree for female performance. Srinisha was given special recognition by the guest judges.
Playback singer Suchithra Karthik Kumar made her first appearance on the show, as a guest judge for this round. Playback singer Naresh Iyer also appeared as a guest judge, and had competed in the first season of Airtel Super Singer.
The 15–18 March Pudhu Padalgal (English: new songs) round required the remaining 10 contestants to sing songs from films released in 2008 and 2009. The first song was required to be a fast song, and the second song was required to be a melody song. Contestant SSJ16 Srinisha won immunity after performing her fast song. Contestant SSJ02 Alka Ajith was announced best performer of the melody song segment.
The 22–25 March Nila Padalgal (English: moon songs) round required the remaining nine contestants to perform songs over two parts which fit the theme of "the moon". The set was transformed and everyone was dressed in white to complement the theme.
The first part of the round required contestants to sing songs from films released before 1980. The special guest of the week was veteran playback singer, P. B. Sreenivas, who was well known for this subgenre. After the performance of contestant SSJ18 Sharath, Sreenivas sang the first line of the song when giving his feedback on the performance.
The second part of the round required contestants to sing hits from films released after 1980. Contestant SSJ02 Alka Ajith was announced the best performer of this part of the round, followed by contestants SSJ11 Nithyashree and SSJ21 Priyanka.
The 29 March – 1 April round required the remaining eight contestants to sing songs of a retro theme.
The 5–8 April round required the remaining seven contestants to perform national award-winning songs. In the first part of the round, the best two performers, Srinisha and Shravan, were given an award by playback singer P. Susheela and immunity to advance to the next round. The other contestants sang another song on the theme; the worst of these three then had to perform state award-winning songs, and the worst two of those had to perform brand new songs. Nithyashree was ultimately the bottom performer, however special guest S. Janaki requested that no one be eliminated and the judges agreed.
The 12–15 April round celebrated Chithirai Thiruvizha. Instead of an elimination there was special prize for impressing the judges, who performed with them. Mano considered Alka Ajith was the most impressive, Malgudi Shubha considered Srinisha was the most impressive and Chithra considered Nithyashree the most impressive.
– Special solo performance by judge
The 19–22 April round required the remaining seven contestants to perform songs in an "unplugged" format. The contestants were accompanied by special-guest musicians.
In relation to the musicians who made their TV debut appearance on the show, the compere announced that:
The bottom three performers from the unplugged songs were given five minutes to learn another song before performing it. Based on those performances the judges eliminated Prasanna Sundar from the competition.
The 26–29 April round required the remaining six contestants to perform songs from films that had the music director M. S. Viswanathan, a 55-year veteran of the industry. This was the last ordinary round before the semi-finals.
At the end of each episode's performances, the best-judged contestant was given immunity and advanced to the next round. Priyanka was eliminated.
The semi-finals began with the 2–6 May round which required the remaining five contestants to perform in a quick-fire competition, accompanied by special guest musicians. Srinisha was eliminated.
The semi-finals concluded with the 10–13 May round which required the remaining four contestants to perform in another quick-fire competition. Each contestant was required to sing:
The contestants received additional training from each of the above playback singers for this round, in addition to their usual training from Ananth Vaidyanathan. At the conclusion of the episode, Nithyashree was eliminated.
The 17–20 May round allowed contestants who had been eliminated in fifteenth to sixth place in the main competition an opportunity to perform for a chance to re-enter the competition in the wild card round. (Eliminated semi-finalists were automatically entitled to perform in the public wild card round.) In the first part of this round, the wild card entry judges selected two contestants to advance to the public wild card round.
In the second part of the wild card entry round, 19–20 May, the remaining eight eliminated contestants were given another opportunity to perform. At the conclusion of this round, two more were selected to enter the public wild card round.
The 24–27 May wild card round had the six wild card contestants compete for a chance to re-enter the competition. Over four episodes, they performed "mass entertainment" songs, "philosophical" songs, South Indian "folk" songs, and "challenging" songs. Throughout the week, the public were invited to vote for their favourite wild card contestants.
The 31 May – 3 June round recognized contestants with the SSJ Awards and also announced the wild card winners – Srikanth and Nithyashree – who entered the finals along with Alka Ajith, Roshan and Shravan.
The wild card results created frustrations and disappointments among Vijay TV viewers citing that the public votes were manipulated and played no role in the results. Various blogs were very much in favour of the wild card winner as Priyanka followed by Srinisha. Views have been aired that Srikanth and Nithyashree though talented pose no competency to the other finalists in the final round.
The finals consisted of eight episodes telecast over two weeks, 7–16 June.
The finalists were required to perform songs of the Carnatic classical genre, the South Indian "folk" music genre, the Western melody genre, and a fast tempo song of a Western genre.
The grand finale was telecast live on 17 June 2010, and exceeded three hours. The five grand finalists were Shravan Pratap, Alka Ajith, Roshan Sebastin, Srikanth, and Nithyashree.
The results of the competition and prizes awarded at the grand finale were as follows: