Auj and Aarish enter the finals while Black Hour and E Sharp make an exit
It is odd how some bands that once appeared on the Pepsi Battle of the Bands platform, who didn’t win the main title though they did make it to top 8, managed to carve a name for themselves; Tamaasha and Xarb are two such examples.
In the 2019 edition of Pepsi Battle of the Bands, after Kashmir’s excellent performance of ‘Bhaago’, their newest song, Tamaasha also returned to the platform this year with their new single, the electrifying ‘Paisa Phenk’ for which the band recently released an original music video as well.
In the latest episode of the show, co-host Ali Safina invited the judges - Fawad Khan, Meesha Shafi, Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia - to shortlist two bands for the finals out of the competing four. This is the episode where Black Hour, Auj, E Sharp, and Aarish would take each other on respectively. Not only does the competition get more demanding from here on but a lot depends on what appeals to the judges.
With a change in format, the four bands were divided into two categories with the theme of this episode being mash-ups: merging an original with a cover.
E Sharp went with a mellow and gorgeous song called ‘Aik Nayi Subah’, showcasing beautiful songwriting skills with ‘Tu Hai Kahan’ - originally sung by the late Junaid Jamshed, Haroon and Strings. With this song, E Sharp switched gears with dhols in tow. They basically killed it. I don’t know how many times it has been said before for this band but this was another proof of what a dynamic band E Sharp is.
Faisal Kapadia found the E Sharp performance decent but not the best; Bilal Maqsood, the tough critic on the show, found it “amazing”; Meesha Shafi agreed with Bilal and “loved it” while Fawad Khan, agreeing with Faisal Kapadia, proved to be the roughest critic and thought the lyrics of the band (who have more than two albums to their credit) could be more polished and the performance was good but not groundbreaking. What?
Aarish began with ‘Muntazir’, an original that was overpowered by their thrilling cover of ‘Dekha Na Tha’ by Alamgir. This is not a top 8 band but Fawad Khan loved it and found “versatility”; Faisal Kapadia agreed with Fawad and was fawning over them; Meesha Shafi had some criticism and picked up the anti-climactic with the good while Bilal Maqsood also had no criticism for Aarish.
It’s no surprise that Aarish made it to top 2 while E Sharp, who had been winning performer of the day awards, for some peculiar reason, lost. Yes, E Sharp lost again and the pop-esque Aarish won. You can shed some tears.
As for the second battle between Auj and Black Hour, we know Auj has been a judges’ favourite from the beginning.
Black Hour went with an original called ‘Tanhaiyaan’ with ‘Tanhai’ by Fringe Benefits and showcased strong musicianship, picked good songs to mash. Bilal Maqsood enjoyed the performance but while the fun element was present, the musical skills were somewhat lacking; Meesha Shafi enjoyed the electrifying performance but found the vocals strained as she explained moving around and performing at the same time can be tricky; Faisal, too, loved the performance aspect and called it a “rollercoaster” but agreed both with Meesha, Bilal and added that he didn’t find the original as inspiring.
Fawad Khan, however, found it “cohesive” and called his fellow judges’ comments as “choti moti baatein” not mattering much because the band was enjoying and so was the crowd. By that logic, E Sharp should’ve stayed.
You have to wonder what the judges were thinking. Black Hour and E Sharp certainly did play better, more so the latter one. Based on this performance alone (and the others they have delivered so far), it is a damn shame to see the unlikeliest candidates make it to the finals.
Auj, who have received standing ovations in the past, merged ‘Mera Laung Ghawacha’ by Musarrat Nazir with an original called ‘Angraiziyan’. This may have been their dullest performance to a point that one had to root for Black Hour.
Meesha Shafi felt that while decent, merging the two songs is not something she would’ve done and she did feel a disconnect. Fawad Khan loved the concept and the contrast; Faisal Kapadia and Bilal Maqsood mostly liked the song.
A dullest top 2 have unfortunately emerged: Auj and Aarish. Performer of the day award, therefore, went to Aarish.
The finals of season four appears next week but at this stage, performances by the judges seem to be more appealing.
