Dr. Balakrishna Varma is from Thrissur and a very close friend of mine. He used to practice as a psychiatrist in the early days. This letter was emailed to Amrita T V regarding their programme Superstar Junior. I found some valid arguments in his email and I am publishing the letter with his permission. I totally agree with his views on this programme and I think the little kids shouldn't be put into this competitive thing, rather they should be given a chance to showcase their talents.
Dear Sir,
I was an ardent follower of the Original Superstar Series and loved it immensely. My daughter Jessica was a great fan of Sangeeth. My wife, Shobha, a Carnatic Music Teacher herself loved the programme.
What I have to say is about SUPERSTAR JUNIOR.
The children are all between the age of 5 to 15. The way your two judges,Mr Deepak Dev and the Other Guy are treating these small siblings is ATROCIOUS. I myself am a great admirer of Matha Amritanandamayi. I consider her to be a great boon to our World at the moment. A Channel run in the name of that GREAT PERSONALITY bringing out a show like SUPERSTAR JUNIOR is too bad. Do you realise that these Small Siblings are at a very IMPRESSIONABLE AGE? Any Psychologist or Child Psychiatrist will tell you this. The way the LOOSERS are Manhandled by your Judges simply tells us that they themselves have not passed through these ages. Was Deepak Dev a "Maha-Srishti" that he was born into this World the way he is now? He too must surely have run around in Diapers. When he was 5 or 10 years old did he sing without any mistakes? I am intending both the judges. But Unfortunately the Other Guy's name is not familiar. This is not a personal attack on Deepak Dev and the Other Guy.
What I am trying to tell you is that a Channel of your standing Amrita TV should not run such an Abusive Programme. Yes, it is definitely a case of Child Abuse. Do you know that in any other developed country your Channel could be SUED? Unfortunately in our Motherland India where even Murderers are let off free with Political Influence these kinds of things happen.
Another very important factor is that even the little siblings (5 years old) and the more experienced 15 year olds are judged by the same Yardstick.
Now my entire Family has stopped seeing SUPERSTAR JUNIOR. We still watch other programmes in your Channel. All of them steadily maintain their degree of excellence. Either the judges change their attitudes towards the siblings or you are missing out on a Great Fan Following.
Regards,
Balakrishna Varma.
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I completely agree with what is mentioned in the letter. I also saw one episode of that program and felt that the kids were having a tough time.
Childhood is time for fun and play. Not for competition and not definitely for dressing downs for little flaws. As you said, the program can be used to showcase the talent with all the participants emerging as winners.
On a separate note, the article about you in the Confident magazine was superb. It touching, inspirational and informative. The article was well organized and beautifully written. Congratulations Jo and may God help bless you to continue the good work you are doing and succeed...
I wish you a very happy, prosperous and successful 2007.
Very well said & yes, MUST BE CONDEMNED!
Hm...
I have noticed the same stupid behaviour of the judges- in few other programmes(in other Tamil tv channels) too. It is very kind on the psychologists part to voice this...I hope the panel behaves mature & treat children as children with all due respect.
And nice of u on ur part to get this to others notice through ur blog.
Regards,
Marutham.
For this reason alone, I try not to watch these kind of competition shows. It is sad how, not only do we ape the west, we go a step further down in behavior and antics.
-kajan
i totally agree with the views given by Dr.Varma. Jo, thanks for posting this . atleast it would show some light to the parents who push the kids to participate in such programmes and trying to make them famous at an early age..
When SuperStar (Seniors) was on the air, I wrote this mail to producer ;)
Dear Producer,
I used to watch Super Star somedays back. It was really nice to see budding singers putting their best to become Super Star. I couldn't see the programme for some days for personal reasons. And judges were doing pretty decent job. There were variety in songs, different languages, melody, fast numbers, soothing compositions. All great.
Recently I saw the programme again. It is really a pain to watch the programme fully. It is not their talent "rated" or "promoted". Everything except their singing is appreciated or criticized by the judges now. Their looks, costumes, dance numbers but definitely not the singing. And the programme has become a half baked rock show. I mean it is more westernised. This kind of promotion of tamil and hindi album or rock type movie songs is not giving me the feel of watching malayalam channel. And this is not good for those artist's career also. They will loose their attention in music being a celebrity concerned about their looks, costumes. And I see this clearly with a singer called Mridula. Now her singing concentration has gone down.
Steven is good. Judges and anchor has become boring. Deepak and Balabhaskar is not bothered abt music I guess. Alphonse is still okay somewhat.
This is just my comments abt the programme. Don't take it serious and do it your way only ;).
Thanks
Gopan
Chennai
JO,
I didn't get a chance to watch this program. Shocked to read that it is 'Abuse'! Is it so?
What exactly is going on? Can you explain pls?
Or is it a copy of the American Idol..where the judges just comment openly which is sometimes too sharp.
Jo
I didn't know we have such progms there. Even here such programs are of 18yr and above. Its not good for a child to receive this kind of nonsense.
>> Alexis: Rightly said Alexis. And thank you for your comment on the interview. I wish you a happy and prosperous New Year!
>> Marutham: Thank you Marutham.
>> Kajan: Yes. Sad, but true.
>> Sarangi: Thank you Sarangi.
>> Gopu: Very very rightly said Gopu! Thank you for sharing this. Its the music and the kids which have to suffer after all this.
>> NV: Here is Dr. Varma's reply:
Dear Mr.Venkitu,
This show is being telecast in Amrita TV,one of the numerous Malayalam Channels. What I meant as 'Child Abuse' is this:
Children from the agegroup of Five to Fifteen are asked to compete in a Musical Show. The children are selected from three centers in Kerala - Cochin, Calicut and Trivandrum. They all have to pay an Entrace Fee of Rs.300/ to the Channel which is NON-REFUNDABLE. Nearly 3000 kids participated. The judges (three of them) are supposed to test the Musical Skills of these kids and select TEN FINALISTS.
What I felt Atrocious was the way in which these judges were handling the children. How can a tiny Five Year Old be compared to a Fifteen Year old. Also the judges were treating the siblings extremely harsh.
Many left the stage in tears. One little girl begged "Please sir, give me one more chance...".The reply was a very curt "Sorry. No".
How can one expect a tiny budding artist to perform in the same category of Hariharan or Unnikrishnan or Sujatha? The children's talents are being curbed at such an Impressionable age. I hope I have cleared most of your doubts.
I have not seen the American Show.
Regards,
Balakrishna Varma
>> Ganesh: Yes Ganesh. The age barriers should have been there. But unfortunately, that's not what happened.
I also completely agree with what Mr. Varma mentioned. Apart from these, I made a mistake that I took my daughter for the first screening,(only because of her compulsion), then that "so called judges" were not at all ready to hear even the pallavi of the song. I do not know whether because of this mental stress or some other problems, my daughter was admitted in the hospital for 5 days because of severe fever and headache. My advice to all the parents is that never make a situation so as to make someone to ridicule our children, that is all.
Jo - I have seen the american Idol - the inspiration for Sony and now Amrita. In that Simon Cowell, the judge, is downright rude to some contestants while commenting on their skills and even walks off during the stage when he doesnt like some performance. But mind you the contestants are not 10 year olds. They are teenagers who can cope something better than a 10 year old who may be left a scar on his mind if somebody critizes and says hes not good and all
Unni
>> BASIL: That's really bad that they were not ready to hear even the pallavi and your message shows how dangerously this effects children!
>> Unni: In the case of Junior Superstar, its little kids and thats what makes us more worried.
I don't understand the logic of this show at all. Unlike Indian Idol and Idea Star Singer these kids are not promised with any 'record deals'(I guess).
I was dismayed by the behaviour of these so called judges. It made me question the qualifications of these individuals.I think these 'I know it all' guys should learn one or two facts about child psychology before becoming 'judges'.Shows like these needs to follow strict guidelines and should be imposed by the network.
As a volunteer,I work for the rehabilitation of under-privileged children and to my understanding the last thing you want to do to a child is kill his/her self-esteem.
Finally, my respect to Dr. Varma and Jo for raising a voice against this idiocy.
Cheers
>> Taffy: Thank you for sharing your thoughts Taffy.
I also felt that....and i totally agree wit what is metioned in the letter.I was a fan of senior superstar...i never missed a single episode of tat great show.But junior super star is an utter flop.yes alexi ur r right...childhood is time for fun and play not for competitions....The main thing tat attracted me to senior superstar is the youthfulness....their energy and all.....but here we missed all tat great factors.....
i wish all the kids a great new year
Hey Jo:
Long time since I jotted something here. First of all, Happy new year! May this year bring you a lot of success and happiness.
Coming to the letter by Sri Balakrishnan:
We speak about Child harrassment:
It is not something like the channel has you (the parents) bring their children for a reality show like super star. Its the discretion of parent whether they want their kids to be subjected to "harrassment". Why blame the channel for not keeping an age barrier? It should be on the parents if they want to take the kid to an event like this. If you dont want ur 5 year old kid to be pitted against a 15 year old, dont bring your son/daughter. isnt it as straight forward as that?
Now, this is a personal impression, I find the usual judges rant "Everyone sang so well, It was hard to choose a winner..." extremely annoying. There is nothing wrong in saying some one sucked, because it is just the flip of saying "you were wonderful..."
The kid who requested the second chance being denied should be interpreted correctly by the parents to him or her that the fact is: "Life never gives you many second chances, you have to work hard and prove a point to the world in the one half chance that you get..." . It is silly to let the kid sing one more time just for the heck of it. Such a waste of time. Strong words drive a point many a time better than suger coated useless sentences. If the child has potential, and if he/she has supportive parents he /she will constructively learn from the criticism and rise above. That also makes the kid stronger. (for the argument: It will break the 5 yr old's self esteem - Simple answer - You are too young for this contest my dear! Dont blame uncle for saying this to you! Its like taking a 10 year old to an Adult movie and then blaming the theatre owner for screening it. What was your discretion as a parent doing at that time?)
I do understand the mental turmoil that the child will go through and all that, but I completely blame the parents and NOT the channel for all the agony caused. Take sports as an example, just because a child is competing the rules are not relaxed. mind you - the sub junior category features kids of 8 yrs to 13 years. No second chances are given, no questions asked. Why is art always looked upon with a compromising stand? Only the good should prevail! If you want your child to grow up understanding his mistakes, expose them to the reality, counsel them about this being just one event and there are many more to come. if you cant, dont bring them for the event! expecting the judges to treat your son/daughter like the God's gift to mankind is a little too overboard.
Now the judges needing to know child psychology to judge a music event is like telling cricket umpire must know psychotherapy to give a lbw verdict. Judging music is simple - whether it is good or bad, the age, gender, physical handicap etc should never come into play. You / your child competing in a competition means you understand what the event is and how you will probably be treated. I am in complete agreement with Amrta tv since its the parents who brought the kids to the event and not the channel. Its a fair game. Whats the need of all this hue and cry about harrassment and stuff?
@ Taffy:
I agree with you with regard to underprivileged children! But here thats not the case, these are kids with responsible (??) parents who brought them to the so called ordeal.
Thanks
Harish
>> Harish: You have raised some valid points of parents bringing their kids into the competition. Still, I think it is also the channel's responsibility. The channel shares the equal responsibility.
"Life never gives you many second chances, you have to work hard and prove a point to the world in the one half chance that you get..." .
Big words man. Probably can be understood by an adult only.
I really don't understand why you blame it ALL on parents and don't share it with the channel.
It's not a case of a "fair game". It is NOT. Just based on the common sense.
I believe musical platforms such as BlogSwara play a fair game where the people are given a chance based on their talents, not on the basis of a competition.
PS: Happy New Year to you buddy! Have a great musical year ahead!!
To Harish,
My comments were for young children not fo the teens anyways,
The definition for the word 'psychology' can be put as 'the science of behaviour'. What I meant by 'knowing child psychology' is that these judges should know how a child perceives things differently than adults.
I appreciate your progressive thoughts but in reality kids don't have the ability to comprehend criticism in its constructive form.
On the other hand there is a big difference in constructive criticism and humiliating criticism.Sadly the judges used the later so often.
Finally, I enjoyed the humor in "umpire and psychotherapy".
Cheers
Hai AmritaTV,
Ur all programe was very good. especially "SUPERSTAR".
"We love AmritaTV"
from
Jesly, Nisar & Nehnakutty
Dubai, UAE
I loved Super Star Seniors and love Super Star Juniors even better.Just seeing those kids perform makes me feel so proud of'em.Instead of blaming Amrita TV for something they are not responsible for,why dont people just sit back and enjoy the show.If kids are being harassed in the show,why blame Amrita TV for it ? Blame the kids' parents who take them to the show..No ones forcing anyone to take part in the show..The kids come on their own will and seem to be enjoying it while they participate in this show ! n no way is this similar to any of those shows in Star World or Sony or Zee for that matter.Most of the comments in this blog are similar to blaming the Cinema Owner for it when you take ur kid to an adult movie !!
kudos to alsabith for winning this award. truly deserved this award, cause he has enough talent in both singing and performing.
hi
first u go and watch the program. nowdays the childrens mind are entirely different from the past. they are very smart. 5 year old child is writing english reversly and same age childrens are making wonder in computer and all. So instead of thinking fastly and encouraging them, do not be like old agers,
I was really enjoying the show and i have seen the improvement in that childrens in each and every steps.
Kabeer