Cop Prashant Tamang is the new Indian Idol

New Delhi: The wait is finally over.

Prashant Tamang, a constable in the West Bengal Police, was on Sunday declared the winner of talent hunt show Indian Idol after he pipped his rival Amit Paul in a grand finale of the over-two month long talent hunt.

Twenty-four-year-old Tamang, who hails from Darjeeling, has come a long way from being a member in the police band in Kolkata to becoming the heart throb of millions of TV viewers all over the country.

The glittering, star-studded grand finale saw Tamang perform with 24-year-old Paul, his rival from Shillong.

Tamang stole the show when he sang Yeh Kali Kali Aankhen from the Hindi film Baazigar.

As actor John Abraham announced Tamang the winner, the constable thanked his mother in a voice choked with emotion.

"I thank my mother, public and Bengal police for granting me the permission for participating in the show," he said.

The gala was held in New Delhi with the final witnessing over seven crore people sending in their votes via SMS.

Talent Hunts: How it began

Till about five years ago, talent hunts on Indian television were meant for prime time entertainment. And just that. Those were the days when TRP games hadn’t reached a maddening crescendo and mobile networks hadn’t discovered the potential of SMS voting and audience opinion.

Those were the days of shows like Meri Aawaz Suno (on Doordarshan) and Sa Re Ga Ma (on Zee TV) – two of the first talent hunts on Indian TV that gave the music industry some of its most popular voices – Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal. They were spotted by music directors and groomed to make it big.

Then things changed with Indian Idol. The Indian-version of the American popular reality show American Idol redefined talent hunts as an Indian viewer knew and empowered him to play the judge by simply keying in a code on his mobile phone.

Interactivity got a new meaning and consumer, audience in this case, became the king in TRP games and mobile revenue market.

Presently, interactive talent hunts are the biggest money spinners in the television entertainment industry and the pan-Indian popularity of shows like Indian Idol – running into its third season – Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Fame Gurukul and Voice of India is an indication of just that.

Idol pin-ups unite Northeast

But with this trend, another interesting pattern emerged - regional voting.

Source: http://www.ibnlive.com