Indian Idol (Sony):
Oddly enough, it is the singers from this ‘complete package’ show who are more in the media glare than those from other shows. Amit Sana, first Indian Idol 1’s first runner-up is in demand for shows just like Abhijeet Sawant. Rahul Vaidya is another stage favourite as is Prajakta Shukre, who released a recent debut album Dhakka. However, from their individual albums, only Abhijeet’s had done well. The latter two have sung in Marathi films and albums, while Amit has bagged a few films like Kalyug and Abhijeet sang in Aashiq Banaya Aapne and one or two others. Rahul also sang in Shaadi No.1.

Rahul Saxena, arguably the most powerful voice on that show, is a well-known name in Bhojpuri cinema and has also sung in the Emraan Hashmi flop Jawani Diwani.

From Indian Idol 2, Meenal Jain, who finished sixth, has fared best. Daring to go against market diktats, she creditably came up with the classy Sufi album Mehram. She, along with another finalist Monali Thakur, performs with Sonu Nigam and has sung alongside Sufi czarina Abida Parveen at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Being a chorus singer even before she entered the show, she had already sung for films like Sehar and Kal.

While nothing is heard about Idol Sandeep Acharya (his album came a cropper), runner-up N C Karunya is reportedly doing well in the South. In Hindi films he has sung in Lage Raho Munnabhai and Jai Santoshi Maa.
Sa Re Ga Ma Pa (Zee):

From the original format of the show have come several singers of varied calibre that include Sneha Pant, a mega-final gold medalist who has sung in films like Yaadein, Moksha and Masti, and big names like Shreya Ghoshal (sourced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Devdas from there), Sunidhi Chauhan, Kunal Ganjawala, Shweta Pandit and some others like Mohammed Vakil. From the later lot in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge we have had singers like Debojit, Vinit, Himani and Nihira who have sung in a few films of their gurus on the show like Aadesh Shrivastava and Himesh Reshammiya.

Channel [V] Popstars:
Nothing much happened to the first band ‘Viva’, even after it split: Pratichee, Neha Bhasin and Anoushka Manchanda are still struggling, despite the latter’s hit tracks for Golmaal – Fun Unlimited and Zindaggi Rocks. Mahua Kamat has done playback for South Indian films, and has sung for films like Dev and Musafir. ‘Aasma’, the second band has not made any dent, but Neeti Mohan sings on A R Rahman’s shows.

Super-Singer (Channel [V]):
Naresh Iyer, a mere participant, was noticed by Rahman too and given a major break in Rang De Basanti. Winner Ravindra Upadhyaya has released albums and has done playback in Mumbai and South.

Fame Gurukul (Sony):
Qazi and Rooprekha from the first season and Rehan Khan and Neeti Nair from Fame X, the second season on SAB TV, are nowhere.

Meri Awaaz Suno (Doordarshan):
Yash Chopra and Jatin-Lalit gave Manpreet a break in “ghar aaja pardesi” from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Later, she recorded another song for J-L in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai before fading into oblivion. Some other finalists and winners were given breaks in Humko Ishq Ne Maara and Mohabbatein but are missing from the scene today.