There was enough to glue anyone to the tube this week. If you are a cricket buff, particularly of the wham bam variety, the T20 finals provided enough adrenaline rush to last you a month. If you were from any side east of Uttar Pradesh, you had enough reason to chew your nails and watch as the Indian Idol reached its finale last weekend. And if you are a soap fan with a yen for something different, Amber Dhara launched to give you something new to chew on. And of course, a new season of Desperate Housewives hit the waves too.

Cricket, however, overpowered the rest of the programming and dominated the remote control. Ever since the younger version of our boys in blue beat Australia in the semi-finals, there was little else to talk about on news channels. And after the finals, the repeated footage of Sreesanth's last catch and Yuvraj's six sixes could well rival that of the planes crashing into the twin towers in the annals of TV history.

Of course, since any channel worth its salt had to prove its mettle, the entire Wednesday turned into a carnival with exhaustive coverage of the team's return and felicitation in Mumbai. Battling the rains, braving the crowds and tripping over each other in their enthusiasm to get close to the heroes, camerapersons and reporters were often reduced to a babbling lot, one of whom even gushed when he spotted Yuvraj - 'Chhakkon ke sartaj!".

Cricket has hijacked the Chak De anthem, as was evident from the continuous play the song got since the win at Johannesberg. Hockey, which was just about taking a tentative step into the limelight, has been pushed back rudely, once again. The hockey team and coach got airtime enough to register their protests against the step motherly treatment to the sport, but after that, channels went back to where their hearts belong - cricket, and the new breed of cricketers.

****

Idol worship

Advertisement

To the rest of the country, it didn't make a mite of difference which man from the north east won. But the finale in Delhi had some real cheering for both finalists from their respective states, obviously unaided by any prompting from the organisers. The endless performances by the ousted participants (with the girls dressed up like aspiring film starlets) were a tad boring, till Sukhvinder Singh came up on stage and gave an inspiring performance with some of them. Instead of focusing on their dance moves, Singh made them sing along on variations of tunes, and the girls matched him, tune for tune.

Of course, a film promotion even at the finale was inevitable. Although it was near midnight and patience had worn thin, chief guest John Abraham did his bit for his upcoming film Goal's promotion before declaring the winner.

Bliss of conjoined life

It's a novel concept, and it ain't easy to tackle. But so far, Sony's Amber Dhara haven't had too many problems in life except face the barbs of school mates. The serial has married the unique situation of conjoined twins to a soap, and there necessarily has to be some lather. Although it's engaging to watch, one gets the feeling that it's too removed from reality to be true. The girls wear designer clothes, drive cars and look like models ready to walk the ramp. It is their mother, Mona Ambegaonkar, who is able to express the agony of conjoined life far better.

Sahara One's Bathroom Singer continues to look like a poor cousin of Indian Idol, particularly since it's objective too is to include all those not allowed entry into the more glamorous shows. Still, it could have been zanily presented. But neither Ravi Kissen and Shibani Kashyap have the wherewithal to pull off such a coup as judges and Gaurav Gera as the host is lackluster. They are staid and boring to say the least. The singers are no sensations either, consequently, the show just gets on your nerves after a while.

****

Couch potato's tip of the week - You may have missed it in all the excitement about cricket, but the new season of Desperate Housewives on Star World is worth a dekko. All the wives are back with different problems this time, but they are as engaging as ever!