The first season of &TV’s The Voice India came to a close with Pawandeep Rajan taking home the title. Pawan was a hit from his very first appearance at the blind auditions: the image of Shaan carrying Pawan when he chose Shaan to be his coach in the competition, is etched in the audience’s mind. For Pawandeep this was his first attempt at a music show. Though he has always been musically inclined, training in tabla as a toddler, he started singing three years ago and took up formal training only two weeks before the auditions. He says, “I had just started with Sa-Re-Ga Ma-Pa when I got selected.” He recalls being taken aback by the large number of talented singers at the auditions, but pushed through thinking “I’ve come this far, might as well give it a try.”
Prior to the competition, Pawan preferred to sing Sufi songs and was part of a band Raet. Once inducted into Shaan’s team, different kinds of songs were thrown at him. Shaan opines that the singers in his team, at this point in their careers, should not be stuck in one genre or style; this was their time to explore. Shaan lauds him for putting his individual touch in everything he sings, and says, “he is probably more talented than I was at his age.” Taking their bond further, Shaan and Pawan are to stay together in Mumbai and work in Shaan’s studio.
Pawandeep hopes to establish himself as a playback singer, and also seeks to bring more diversity to the music scene in his home-state Uttarakhand, saying that, there, every song sounds like the same song.
The Voice also gave Pawandeep long lasting friends in his room-mates Sachet and Rishabh. For the coaches too, the reality show brought in a new format and with it a whole new feel to this kind of show. According to Shaan, the camaraderie between the coaches and the light environment on the sets cull out melodrama, bring in humour and fun, and allow for close, personal relationships between the coaches and their team members.
The Voice involves careful selection of contestants by the coaches, Shaan elaborates on what he looks for in a contestant, “The voice speaks to you; it allows you to understand the potential of the person. Their approach to music, to certain passages, and their technical skill.” He stresses on the last; while technology allows one to not require a sound technical base in studios, live performances demand it. “I look for someone who has come through perseverance and understands themselves and their music.”
Pawan takes home has won 50 lakh rupees, a Maruti Alto and a recording deal with Universal.
