Singing is one of the earliest genres of reality television in India, with shows such as "Sansui Antakshari" and "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa" laying the very foundation in the 1990s, so strong that it would continue to be the prominent reality show genre in the country where music and singing form an indispensable aspect of the culture.
Sa Re Ga Ma Pa
"Sa Re Ga Ma Pa" is the first homegrown seasonal singing reality show that premiered on Indian Television, conceptualized and telecast by Zee TV. As of April 2012, the show has rolled out 16 seasons with as many as 1076 episodes. The title denotes the first five musical notes (or Swaras) in the Indian Sargam. Public voting was introduced on the show in 2005 with "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005". The show has discovered playback singing stalwart Shreya Ghoshal. It rolled out its sub-series "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L`il Champs", a singing competition series for young prodigious children immensely popular amongst Indian television audience across the globe.
Indian Idol
"Indian Idol" is a premier and popular singing reality TV show, the Indian version of British television music competition "Pop Idol" created by Simon Fuller. It premiered in India in 2004, launched by the programming team of Tarun Katial and Anupama Mandloi at Sony Entertainment Television. The show in its 6 seasons has had a credible panel of judges from music industry, the likes of Asha Bhosle, Anu Malik, Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan, Farah Khan, Salim Merchant, Sunidhi Chauhan and produced voices like Abhijeet Sawant, Rahul Vaidya, Prajakta Shukre, Meiyang Chang, Monali Thakur and Bhoomi Trivedi.
The Voice India
"The Voice India" is a newly emerged popular Indian singing reality show, based on the original Dutch version created by John de Mol. A part of a wider international franchise, the series employs a panel of four coaches who critique the artists` performances, each one guiding a team of select artists through the remainder of the season. It first aired on &TV in June 2015 featuring leading Bollywood singers Himesh Reshammiya, Mika Singh, Shaan and Sunidhi Chauhan as coaches. Pawandeep Rajan from Shaan"s team was first season"s winner.
STAR Voice of India
"STAR Voice of India" was a reality show that first aired in 2007 on STAR Plus, the first singing competition introduced by the channel. The show ran its two seasons presented by Shaan, the winners being Ishmeet Singh and Ravi Shukla.
India`s Raw Star
"India"s Raw Star" is a singing reality series that aired on STAR Plus in 2014. Created by Yo Yo Honey Singh and STAR India, it discovered voices of finalists Rituraj Mohanty, Mohit Gaur and Darshan Raval, with Rituraj eventually winning.
