The Hindu Business Line : All eyes on <I>Indian Idol</I>

The show, aired on Sony Entertainment Television's (SET) flagship channel, has already managed to get one-and-half million phone votes for its first two shows where viewers choose their favourite singers.

This is comparable with international numbers. In the UK, Pop Idol received 32 million phone votes throughout the series — ranging between 0.5 million and nearly nine million for the final show.

In the US, a record was set for mobile-orientated messages, with American Idol receiving 7.5 million messages during the series and as many as 2.5 million on the last night.

Speaking to Business Line, Sunil Lulla, Executive Vice-President of SET, said, "Pop Idol has emerged as the single-largest interactive show and telephone companies have opened up all their capacities due to the overwhelming response."

He added that the show is also among the top seven most watched programmes during the past two weeks.

Sony has acquired the rights to Pop Idol from Bertelsmann-owned Fremantle Media. Lulla said the overwhelming response could be attributed to the fact that the show has been able to get the common man involved.

The channel is hopeful that the number of telephone votes will only grow by the day. "After we select our 10 top contestants, we will start eliminating them one by one. And we believe that votes will be accelerated towards the gala episode," he said.

The talent hunt show has six sponsors, including Pepsi, AirTel, Nokia, Procter & Gamble, Godrej and Marico, besides other advertisers.

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All eyes on Indian Idol