There was a power cut in my city during the first gala : Vishwas Rai

Vishwas Rai, the 29-year-old singer from Allahabad was the first one to go from Indian Idol-5. Though the judges always praised him looks like the viewers didn’t care much for his talent. TellyChakkar speaks to him to find out what went wrong. It must have been tough... You should ask this question to people who have not got the opportunity to come to this competition. There were thousands who were waiting just to give the auditions. I still remember the day I gave my audition in Delhi. It was terrible -- we were starving and the police ordered a lathi charge. When we finally entered the venue, they announced they won't take auditions any more. I was completely heartbroken and I thought my dreams were crashed. But then within a few minutes they announced they will audition only those contestants who were inside the venue. After all this, reaching the top 13 was a miracle for me. You have earlier participated in Sa Re Ga Ma Challenge 2005 and have also paired up with Twinkle Bajpai for Ek Main Aur Ek Tu. Why did you not participate in the earlier seasons of Indian Idol? After Sa Re Ga Ma, people promised a lot but no one kept their word. I had to struggle a lot. I did a lot of assignments like singing jingles. I also sang a few film songs, only to realise that my voice was dubbed in the final version. I struggled for five years and after that I realised I should participate in a reality show because there, one can be in the limelight for at least a year till the next season happens. After struggling, I went back to my home town and started teaching students and singing at functions and doing stage shows. Why do you think you were eliminated? Was your age a reason? Not really. Though I am 29, I don't look like old. And I feel at 29 I have just started because when you are 23-24 you are not mature enough. You feel the responsibility at this age and yet you are young. Many people have started their career late. Abhijeet Bhattacharjee the famous singer started his career post 30. I feel I performed well and though I sang two very popular numbers -- Chak De and Jalwa (Fashion) the audience perhaps did not like my choice of songs. I also got to know that on the day of the first Gala, there was a power cut in my city. It went on for three days and very few people could watch me. And if they do not watch you perform, how will they vote for you? So that could have been another reason. This year there are a number of contestants, including you, who have participated in other reality shows. In fact, Yash Raj won a reality show as well. Your take on that. Indian Idol is the biggest platform for me. The show which Yash Raj won was nothing compared to Idol. It was not so popular. And at the end of the day talent matters most. But I do agree that experienced participants like us can handle the pressure of reality shows much better than the others. Who do you think will reach the finals? The three SS - Shashi Suman, Shivam Pathak and Sreeram. What are your future plans? Judges have promised a lot of things. Anuji and Salimji praised me a lot and told me that they will be in touch. Sunidhiji has asked me if I can participate in her stage shows. So I will wait for that.