"It is very difficult for me to say no to someone"

This celeb judge has it tough. On his broad shoulders alone rests the responsibility for choosing the Super Singer that Channel [V] has set out to trace. Sami has been doing the rounds of metros, auditioning hundreds of aspirants, sifting the chaff from the grain, breaking the news to those rejected... In between auditions, Sami found time to chat with Taro Wanvari at Bangalore.

So, how's the hunt shaping up?
After Popstars, V is ready to take on such a reality show of this magnitude.

A lot of people who think they sing well leave their education midway, leave their jobs, lose two- three years of their life, before they realize that they are not up to the mark and will not make it. Life in the meantime has passed them by. Reality shows such as this, can dissuade people from following such wrong notions.

As for me, this is one of the few occasions I don’t have to bother about my looks in front of the camera.

Then, how do you handle the rejects?
It is very difficult for me to say no to someone, but, I’ve decided to break it to such people gently, politely. I’ve had to listen to some aspirants who could be used for torture, they are so awful. Many of them think that they are very talented, they are God’s gifts to mankind, some say that they had a bad day, they have a sore throat or some such excuse, I politely explain to them that this line is not for them.

What exactly are you looking for in the 'Super Singer'?
Just the voice, we are not bothered about what he or she looks like, or whether they’ve had training in singing. We want to find that one Golden voice. Someone like Kishore Kumar perhaps, who had no formal training at all.

Which are the cities that have surprised you on this hunt?
Kochi is one place that truly surprised me with the type and the number of talented people. You generally expect people from Delhi or maybe Kolkata performing well – but I really found the people at Kochi doing well.

Do you ever feel hemmed in by the criticism about your Pakistani lineage?
Everyone is entitled to his own opinion. As I know it, music knows no boundaries. When I go to buy a Michael Jackson number at a shop, I’m not looking at his US nationality, or that he is colored or white – I like the music so I buy it.