IndiaKaHero…talent hunt reality shows come to the internet

TV reality shows/contests (Indian Idol from Sony, SaReGaMaPa from Zee, Voice of India from Star plus, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge from Star One) have stirred up a mass hysteria (not just in metropolitan India but across the hinterland as well) and now the same wave seems to be coming to the internet. IndiaKaHero is a talent hunt reality show that will be hosted and voted on the internet. IKH goes beyond the singing contests so popularised by TV; it has four different genres of contests to choose from - Jokes Ka Hero, Songs Ka Hero, Mimicry Ka hero & Dance Ka Hero. Participants have to create an account, upload their videos/audio tracks and enter it into the contest; viewers would then vote to decide the winners. The website has a peppy visual design and looks fairly easy to navigate/use. Check out this (old) self recorded joke somebody has entered into the jokes contest. Something worth noting is that IKH is an offering from NowPos, the Hyderabad based startup (profiled previously) which launched with a voice email service.

Reality contest are serious crowd pullers and web based contest are just about beginning to pick up. Rediff’s Ishare (profiled here) launched with a song contest in conjunction with SaReGaMa (from Zee TV). I am sure there are many others waiting to jump into this bandwagon.

Something that these websites could let their users try out on their own is the ability to create and run their own contests (user generated contests! surely thats a new term) using their web infrastructure.