Round 1: Alka Yagnik

Note:

Alka's first breaks and hits came in the late 80s, therefore she was already popular by the 90s. But this was one of her bigger hits in the early 90s, when she was still young in her career.

As I did in the first edition of risingabove's game, I will start with Alka Yagnik again! I will restate my opening comments, too.

"Alkaji, more than any other singer in this competition, poses a difficulty for objective judges. She was without a doubt THE playback singer of the 1990s and early 2000's. As a result, most Hindi film music listeners are almost conditioned with Alkaji's voice. We all like her voice, because our favourite songs have been sung in this voice, our favourite stories have been told in this voice. For over a decade, this voice has been the voice of the heroine on screen, whether it is the sexy siren, the damsel in distress or the bride-to-be.

So what's the difficulty? Well, we all like her songs and her voice. But is that because we have grown to like her voice? Maybe we just like this voice because we are used to it. To outsiders who don't listen to much filmi music, as well as to many classical purists, Alkaji's voice is too thin. It is too squeaky. Her high notes seem sharp and piercing. Classical lovers remain unappreciative of her lack of Hindustani finesse, favouring Kavita Krishnamurty's highly trained voice.

In my judgement, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Yes, she is not the most comfortable with high notes and yes, her level of training is not up to par with Kavita Krishnamurty or Shreya Ghoshal. But hers is the voice of a generation."

Since then, I've had more experience judging in these games and I've tackled the problem that is Alka Yagnik. Whatever you think of her, she was THE songstress literally for a generation. For more than a decade, you would see albums that had various male singers like Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam etc. but there would be just one female singer - Alka Yagnik, the Voice of a Generation.

And in this cheesy 90's superhit, she shows you why she was the numero uno. She has an instantly attractive tonal quality and, above all her competitors, a command over expression. In this song, she may have gone sharp once (quite prominently too!) and flat once (on one of the many 'dil's in this song) but this is the voice you imagine for any 90's film actress.

It's a relatively simple song (her parts anyway) and she is not perfect with the high notes or harkats. But she is the soul of the song. For this I give her 7/10. She will go on to do even better in the competiiton, no doubt.

Originally posted by: xobile

"Alkaji, more than any other singer in this competition, poses a difficulty for objective judges. She was without a doubt THE playback singer of the 1990s and early 2000's.

What are you talking about? Many considered Kavita the undisputed best in the 90s. Who is better is another debate, but there is no "without a doubt the best" over here.

Originally posted by: ssk13809

What are you talking about? Many considered Kavita the undisputed best in the 90s. Who is better is another debate, but there is no "without a doubt the best" over here.

I am not talking about who the better singer was. I'm talking about who was the dominant force in Bollywood music. That was undoubtedly Alka. Of course Kavita is a great singer and had her own place in the music scene, as did Anuradha and Sadhana. But Alka was the most dominant. Indeed, who the best singer was is a whole other debate.

Originally posted by: xobile

I am not talking about who the better singer was. I'm talking about who was the dominant force in Bollywood music. That was undoubtedly Alka. Of course Kavita is a great singer and had her own place in the music scene, as did Anuradha and Sadhana. But Alka was the most dominant. Indeed, who the best singer was is a whole other debate.

You do realize Kavita sang a lot of bollywood songs in the 90s as well? As I read in risingabove's post, Kavita at 1 point in the 90s had won filmfare playback singer of the year...3 years in a row! Finishing more than Alka for the decade.

Now I know you will say that they are just awards, but the main point is she was recognized as one of the top bollywood playback singers in the 90s. I mean, filmfare is given to bollywood playback singers right? Besides for that, she's sung in many other superhit songs over the 90s.

Originally posted by: ssk13809

You do realize Kavita sang a lot of bollywood songs in the 90s as well? As I read in risingabove's post, Kavita at 1 point in the 90s had won filmfare playback singer of the year...3 years in a row! Finishing more than Alka for the decade.

Now I know you will say that they are just awards, but the main point is she was recognized as one of the top bollywood playback singers in the 90s. I mean, filmfare is given to bollywood playback singers right? Besides for that, she's sung in many other superhit songs over the 90s.

Do you think I don't realize that?

Of course Kavita was very successful. But she wasn't as dominant as Alka. And Kavita's presence faded pretty soon too. She's still amazing. But Alka was the most dominant.

Since you have brought up awards, let me expand on that too. Awards celebrate the best of Bollywood music. When someone is doing a LOT of work, like Alka Yagnik, they may not necessarily be doing the best work. A large part of the best work, which you and I remember today, was shared with Kavita, thus resulting in awards for Kavita. But this only means Kavita was very good, not dominant. If you take a look at the filmfare awards in the 90's, Alka got 16 nomination as opposed to Kavita's 12. In the year 1994 she was in ALL the nominations. Alka also received both her National Awards in th 90's. And if you look at the list of the biggest hits of the 90's you will find that Alka was the dominant female singer in those albums.

Originally posted by: xobile

Do you think I don't realize that?

Of course Kavita was very successful. But she wasn't as dominant as Alka. And Kavita's presence faded pretty soon too. She's still amazing. But Alka was the most dominant.

Based on what? 😆

Look at you go again. Without supporting your opinion. She was the most dominant based on what? You've said it's so "obvious" and "without a doubt" Alka was the most dominant in the 90s. I've said it was debatable and not clear-cut. And I've supported myself already.

So exactly what are you basing your opinion on?

In the 90s, for filmfare,

Kavita had 12 nominations and 3 wins.
Alka had 16 nominations, and 2 wins.

So as you can see, it was not clear-cut on either side.

So exactly what are you basing your opinion on? Singing? You want to claim she sang better than Kavita in the 90s? Or what? Because those filmfare nominations/awards also factor in how big of a hit the song was too. Alka was not without a doubt the best singer in the 90s for bollywood.

Originally posted by: ssk13809

Based on what? 😆

Look at you go again. Without supporting your opinion. She was the most dominant based on what? You've said it's so "obvious" and "without a doubt" Alka was the most dominant in the 90s. I've said it was debatable and not clear-cut. And I've supported myself already.

So exactly what are you basing your opinion on?

In the 90s, for filmfare,

Kavita had 12 nominations and 3 wins.
Alka had 16 nominations, and 2 wins.

So as you can see, it was not clear-cut on either side.

So exactly what are you basing your opinion on? Singing? You want to claim she sang better than Kavita in the 90s? Or what? Because those filmfare nominations/awards also factor in how big of a hit the song was too. Alka was not without a doubt the best singer in the 90s for bollywood.

Woops I edited that post of mine to expand it a bit so you can read that. And I've already said that I'm not arguing Alka was the best singer. She was just the most dominant. Dominant meaning the most heard female voice in Bollywood movies.

Originally posted by: xobile

Woops I edited that post of mine to expand it a bit so you can read that. And I've already said that I'm not arguing Alka was the best singer. She was just the most dominant. Dominant meaning the most heard female voice in Bollywood movies.

No actually dominant does not mean that 😆
The word you are looking for is "popular". Which I could agree to. But dominant does not mean "most heard". That's popular.

Dominant means, you were the premier playback singer, every director wanted you first, you sang most of the songs and sang them the best, etc.


Think about what you are saying and how "popular" fits the definition better than "dominant"