Pepsi Battle of the Bands 4 selects top four bands

As the participating bands reduce in number, Karachi-based music group, E Sharp is winning the judges panel collectively with their colourful originals and in the recent fifth episode – a cover of Junoon’s ‘Neend Aati Nahin’. Off the four winners, E Sharp was given a signed guitar from the judges for a second time, for being Performer of the Day and a twist that they could choose their next adversary; they chose Aarish.

But let’s go back to the beginning. The format of the show has changed somewhat with bands now pitted against each other. Hosts Ali Safina and Hina Altaf, making their debut this season as co-hosts, informed us from the beginning that the theme of Episode 5 would give bands a chance to cover their favourite song.

But before the contestants arrived onstage and belted out their versions, the same question of favourite song was put before the judges by Ali and Hina and some curious and eclectic choices emerged.

Bilal Maqsood noted how a Nazia-Zoheb Hassan album called Boom Boom had released and it had a song called ‘Star’ by Zoheb Hassan that he’d like to cover. Meesha Shafi revealed she would love to cover Ustaad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s ‘Akhiyan Udeek Diyan’ while Faisal Kapadia chose a Vital Signs song ‘Do Pal Ka Ye Jeevan’ and Fawad Khan also went with a Vital Signs song called ‘Chehra’ that had lyrics penned by the late Parveen Shakir.

As the competition began, Starzone went up against Auj with the former choosing to perform a Vital Signs song ‘Ajnabi’ - first covered by Aaroh in Pepsi Battle of the Bands 1 and one that is just as memorable. Starzone, sadly, didn’t come close to the sacred original or even surpass the rendition by Aaroh. Bilal Maqsood felt it was half-hearted; Faisal, too, agreed that something was amiss while Meesha Shafi applauded them for being consistent with their sound and finding some interesting notes; Fawad Khan also found their song mostly decent.

Pitted against Auj - Performer of the Day in a past episode with standing ovations to their credit - who chose to perform Alamgir’s ‘Keh Dena’ and from the get-go, Auj had the judge’s undivided attention. Their vocalist, already a favourite with the judges, came in a new light and it was obvious that Starzone’s journey was over with ‘Ajnabi’.

“We just saw a rock star onstage. I dig this version,” said Meesha Shafi. Faisal Kapadia thought it was a good performance, just not a great one; Fawad Khan found it average and Bilal Maqsood found it nothing short of a revelation. “You guys nailed it,” said Bilal.

Between Auj and Starzone, it was obvious to those of us watching from the beginning that the judges had to choose Auj; their performances overall have been better.

The most exciting part of the episode was the face-off between E Sharp and Marjaan and in this particular battle, it was anybody’s game. But, E Sharp got a standing ovation by the end from Bilal Maqsood, the toughest judge, cheering from Meesha Shafi and impressed the judges. E Sharp killed it with ‘Neend Aati Nahin’ by Junoon, keeping it dreamy while staying on point with vocals, the arrangement of the song as well as stage presence. Bilal Maqsood told them it was the best performance of the four seasons. Faisal found it to be an epic journey; Fawad agreed with Bilal and thought they had outdone themselves with Meesha having noted, “E Sharp, your time has come.”

Marjaan went with Reshma’s ‘Lambi Judaai’, an already difficult song and though the vocalist has a good voice, it was just the wrong choice. But the judges let them off easy. Fawad had kind words for them. For Meesha Shafi, the song lost its magic and Faisal Kapadia found it “risky” and gave them “kudos” for trying. Bilal Maqsood appreciated the effort of doing it in the first place, irrespective of which way the band went from there. It lacked soul and that was palpable.

The battle between Black Hour and Uraan was meh. Black Hour paid tribute to Alamgir with the song, ‘Tum Hi Se Aye Mujahido’ in Iron Maiden-esque mode but never fully getting in the zone and Uraan picked Shehzad Mughal’s ‘Bus Yunhi’ which to be honest, sounded kind of boring with their rendition and arrangement.

Uraan crashed and burned and Black Hour just couldn’t decide if they aim to entertain or carry their chosen genre forward full scale.

The final battle was between Neon and Aarish, with the latter performing the late Junaid Jamshed’s ‘Na Tu Ayegi’ and Neon choosing ‘Mera Mahi’ by Junoon. Meesha found the second half of ‘Mera ‘Mahi’ worthy; Faisal found their journey positive and

Fawad Khan “didn’t feel the rendition”.

Neon’s ‘Mera Mahi’ was kind of dull at the start but got somewhat better. But was it enough? Bilal Maqsood found it terrible; Meesha enjoyed the groovy parts and enjoyed the performance-aspect but also pointed out that it was “not cohesive” enough and “falling apart”; Faisal, too was disappointed and Fawad Khan agreed with the rest of the judges.

In the end, the four bands selected didn’t come as a shock. They are E Sharp, Auj, Black Hour and Aarish and rightly so, given the performances. Even as bands were eliminated, the judges were encouraging to those who didn’t do enough, which is good to see when you’re being kicked off from a national music platform.