Software scandal in reality shows? Author: J Dey and Nishant A Bhuse Date: 24 Dec 2007 Crime branch to probe if reality show results were rigged
Sour Grapes? Rakhi Sawant alleged large-scale cheating during a recent reality dance show Pic/Anil Bhartiya MUMBAI: The Crime Branch may soon crack into a special software, Pager Toolkit, which could be used to rig polls during popular television shows.
On Saturday evening, MiD DAY informed Mumbai joint commissioner of police (crime) Rakesh Maria about the possibility of the software being used during reality TV shows.
The tip-off was that some operators were trying to rig polls during a show finale. Some cyber cafes in Mumbai were allegedly used to send SMSes, to swing votes.
Listen to me!
Rakhi Sawant had alleged large-scale cheating during a recent reality dance show. %u201CThere has been tampering of SMSes.
Apparently, cybercaf%uFFFDwere hired by the channel to send votes in support of their favourite contestants,%u201D she said.
The impression that had gained ground in Bollywood circles was the software was sold to a contestant%u2019s brother.
Maria was certain he could crack the case but wanted the name of at least one cyber cafe that could be raided immediately. The hacker, however, developed cold feet and refused to co-operate with the police.
How it works
Inquiries by MiD DAY revealed that the software could be installed on to a personal computer with Internet access. The process,
Its very surprising to see how Prachi won this competition. Prachi was not bad. But comparing to Sandhya she was no where. Everyone will agree that Urmila is always a better dancer and accorinng to her Sandhya has won this competition. Those who go crazy about prachi and say Sandhya as arrogant should know that it was not a competition between Sandhya and Prachi.It was about dance.And as far as Dance is concerned I truely believe Sandhya is far far better than Prachi. This voting system really sucks in India.And that too big time. Every competition has the same story. Real talent never wins the show.Sandhya And Javed you both really rock.It was not about 50lakh and a trophy. Its about whether you have done justice towards your perfomance. And you both have done a marvelous job. Hats off to you.
I fail to understand how this lady Sandhya thinks she was the best when she was leading by only a ONE point margin in the finale? Is this how some people assess being the 'best?' GIVE ME A BREAK! She danced well yes but her expressions and presentation was horrid, per ME and that is my own opinion. If the judges thought she was the so called best, they should have given her more points. One or two freakin points don't make much difference!
And anyway, if people voted for Prachi that was their choice as to how they wanted to spend their money. So give it a rest people and stop whining and complaining.
RE:How was Sandhya the ''best?''
by Soham Ruhil on Dec 21, 2007 08:11 PM
The people who are true will always seems arrogant becoz they believe in hardwork not in backdoor help/support of anybody to win a contest...and she was sandya who deserved to be the only winner
RE:How was Sandhya the ''best?''
by on Dec 23, 2007 01:26 AM
hi prachi congrats.u deserve to be the best.i hate sandhya she is too arrogant.i dont knw how she still think that she is still the best.because of her arrogance she lost the contest.her expression on her face was horrible.she dances well but she is too arrogant thats y people voted for prachi as she is very humble and not like sandhya.you deserve that prachi once again congrats.from adilah from mauritius country
RE:How was Sandhya the ''best?''
by on Dec 23, 2007 01:02 PM
Righty said Chris.... i thought exactly t way u did... Sandhya is a good dancer but her expressions were horrible... she had t same horrible expression for her evry performance of hers...
Jhalak was not only about dance but also the popularity of the celebrity. thats how mika survived for several weeks. i think prachi truly deserved it. sandhya was good but her dance was not graceful. she danced as though she was fighting and trying to win some war. she could never win the audience coz of her arrogant attitude while prachi was subdued and humble. way to go prachi ..you truly deserved the crown!!!
RE:Prachi deserved it!!
by Soham Ruhil on Dec 21, 2007 08:18 PM
Hardwork make arrogant becoz sandya had nothing with her.. except hardwork .....means she had no backdoor help/support of anybody to win a contest. Prachi ko to ye bhi nahi pata tha ki perform karte hue lipsing nam ki bhi koi cheez hoti hai
RE:Prachi deserved it!!
by aman saluja on Dec 24, 2007 02:05 AM
well, i think Sandya deserved to be the winner all the way. With the level of dance she has, Prachi just seems tasteless. Prachi hasnt won on the basis of talent but by mere emotional support of her fans. Does arrogance get counted too if you want to judge if a person is good dancer or not?..c'mon guys, gimme a break!
RE:Prachi deserved it!!
by Angel on Dec 19, 2007 02:06 AM
Sandhya was in fact very graceful. It was always a delight to watch her as she was a technically correct dancer. That is why she got such good marks from the judges. She was not arrogant but very honest and forthright in whatever she said. Prachi was no competition for her as far as dance was concerned. Prachi doesn't even know how to talk in public which is why she hardly said anything. I think people felt sorry for Prachi in the character she is playing in Kasam Se. She plays the part of a mother to a little girl and they are poor. The audience doesn't realize that this is just a character and not real life. Anyway Ekta made her win from the backdoor.
RE:Prachi deserved it!!
by on Dec 23, 2007 01:05 PM
crap!!!! i ve nvr seen tat serial... so nvr does a question arise as sympathy to t char she is playin... saw prachi for t 1st time in jhalak... i thought she was realli gud... sandhya is a gud dancer too but nvr in anyway bttr than prachi...
RE:Prachi deserved it!!
by paraminder saini on Dec 19, 2007 08:32 PM
my dear friend the contest was not a Ms Graceful peagent.it was all about dance and prachi was nowhere near sandhya
RE:Prachi deserved it!!
by on Dec 22, 2007 09:12 PM
Prachi did deserve it... look at the amount she had evolved... there's nothing great in dancing well when you are already a dancer... learning to dance from the scratch and getting a great as any dancer is where the competence shows... prachi had gotten as good as sandhya if not better, but look where she started! it was very very commendable! she deserved it big time! :)
RE:RE:Prachi deserved it!!
by on Dec 23, 2007 01:08 PM
n my dear friend dance is bout grace too if u din know which is wat sandhya lacked... if dance had no grace n was jus bout energy then probably we should ve called it aerobics....
RE:Prachi deserved it!!
by on Dec 19, 2007 01:46 AM
Congratulations to Prachi!!! She truly deserved it..she had amazing grace in her dance. To me, she was miles ahead of Sandhya who seemed so stiff and her expressions were horrible. The judges who were commenting on Sandhya's expressions suddenly stopped it and started giving her 10 for everything...what a joke..I am happy the people of India chose the right winner...
be it last time in Jhalak dikhlaja in which Shweta Salve was deserving and not Mona singh this time also same thing happened Prachi Won and not Sandhya... its all stupid, we should not waste money in send SMS, cioz the results are pre decided i guess.... What say?????
RE:These reality shows are all stupid
by paraminder saini on Dec 19, 2007 08:27 PM
i think u are absolutely right.these Tv shows have make mockery of peoples sentiments just for TRP and financial gains
RE:These reality shows are all stupid
by shivani narang on Dec 20, 2007 02:26 AM
You are so right! It is so disappointing to see the wrong person win.. and not once, twice! Both Prachi and Mona won only because of their daily soaps and not dancing skills(not to forget Ekta Kapoor's role). Both of them could not match up to Sandhya's and Shweta's dance, respectively at any point of time. Its a mix of both Television gimmicks and the Indian audience.. who, in a dance competetion, do not vote for the dance performances but for completely different reasons.
Any fool can become number one in these cheap contests. It was nauseating to watch Rakhi and her boy friend gyrating and crying together.Maya Menon is correct in pointing out Rakhi's gimmick.
RE:Double standard
by on Dec 22, 2007 09:14 PM
does anyone think that this abhishek is not her real boyfriend and is hired by her for this contest??? just cos he's a coreographer!? i think so...
People should stop voting. Whether it is Jhalak, Indian Idol or anyother reality show, the wrong person gets selected. The channel makes money off of the audiences so it is very possible that this show is rigged. The channel does not care whether the right person wins or not because there whole purpose of running a show like this is to make money. People don't waste your money on voting. Save it for your own use. These celebrities have a lot of money and the poor people of the country are spending their money to make these celebrities more rich. Wake up and smell the coffee!!!
RE:RE:People getting cheated!!
by Nitin Saxena on Dec 18, 2007 08:19 PM
nothing wrong in public voting for the already rich celebrities. if u think that is wrong then paying 100 bucks for watching movies is also wrong.
RE:People getting cheated!!
by Angel on Dec 19, 2007 01:54 AM
Voting in reality shows would be ok if votes were actually used. However in these cases, these votes are not used correctly. The channels bring in ousted contestants through the backdoor. The only reason they brought prachi back is because she is popular as a tv bahu that so many people connect with and as long as the audience is connecting with her, they make money via the sms. In the meantime, Ekta has already used her connections to make Prachi win. Prachi wins and gets more popularity that the TRP for Kasam Se increases.
RE:RE:RE:People getting cheated!!
by Angel on Dec 19, 2007 01:56 AM
"Bucks" mean dollars and not rupees. Where does a person pay $100 for movies? In the U.S a person pays between $5-$8 for a movie or they rent DVD's for $1
1. People Vote for emotions and not for performances. 2. Show organizers and sponsoring companies want people to vote so that they can earn money out off those SMS (stupid SMS) sent by (Stupid) people. 3. Votes are base on emotions and popularity and also based on regional affections. I have seen in some news of some news channel that people are starting some rallies and Yatra for marketing the contestants so that people in that region will start voting for the particular contestant. For example %u201CAsamees will start a rally for a contestant%u201D, %u201CBengali for Bengal contestant%u201D, %u201Cmarathi for Marthi contestant%u201D, %u201CPunjabi for Punjabi contestant%u201D etc %u2026 This way all the time result will always be biased and will always be beneficial for %u201CSHOW SPONCERERES%u201D and not for any of the audiences. Audience will only lose money for voting people from their state or region. 4. STOP VOTING and stop getting looted by sponsoring companies. 5. STOP WATCHING show for other people to make them winner. If you want to watch something then go for movie and turn off that idiot box. 6. This kind of cheating will always happen when people like EKTA KAPOOR are there to make/manage the TV shows which are of no use, may it be KYON KI .. or GHAR GHAR etc. or some shows for artists of same serials. 7. This kind of shows will always exists when FOOLs who watch it regularly.
