If you want to know beforehand the result of ‘Indian Idol’, Sony television’s popular contest to discover a new pop star, watch the television channels in Nepal.

The show, popular in Nepal since its inception, has now become a national obsession, thanks to a participant of Nepali origin remaining in the ring, for the first time in Idol’s history.

Prashant Tamang, a young cop in Kolkata, first made his way to the top 10 and on Saturday finally to the top three finalists amid nail-biting suspense and frantic voting from fans, for whom he is the new icon of the Nepali-speaking diaspora.

With the grand finale just two weeks away now, Nepal’s dailies, magazines and TV stations have been following the remarkable progress of the boy from Darjeeling, who had no formal training in music and was forced to become the breadwinner of his family in his teens, following his father's early death.

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So great is Nepal’s preoccupation with the new star that now Kantipur, Nepal’s biggest private media house that is known for its exposes, has turned its attention to coming up with ‘Indian Idol’ scoops.On Saturday, when Kantipur Television broadcast its evening news bulletin, more than one hour before the ‘Indian Idol’ show was to be screened, the news caster announced that Prashant had made it to the top three singers.

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The bulletin was complete with the information that the lone girl among the top quartet, Ankita Mishra, was to exit the contest.

Nepal’s media has also foretold the return of Udit Narayan, renowned Bollywood playback singer and one of the four Idol judges, to Nepal in future to make a new film, in which Prashant is making his debut as a playback singer.