Jaya Super Singer South India is a reality-based Indian Tamil-language singing competition that was broadcast on

Jaya TV Jaya TV HD is a Tamil language satellite television channel based in Chennai, India. Jaya TV HD is also broadcast to the expatriate Tamil community via various media partnerships. Hemant Sahai of HSA had Jaya TV HD as his first client. Jaya TV ...

. The program seeks to discover

playback singing A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

talent in South India. The show debuted on 20 September 2014, airing on weekend nights at 8:00pm on Jaya TV. The final episode was telecast on 30 August 2015.

Season 1

Season 1 of the show is directed by MS Senthil Kumar.

Auditions

Open auditions

The open auditions, the first stage in determining a seasons finalists, were conducted in the South Indian states of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. During this stage, contestants sing a song or two before a panel of preliminary state audition judges. This panel then decides on-the-spot whether the contestant demonstrated enough ability and performance value to proceed further. If the contestant exhibited exceptional ability in their performance, judges award a "ticket" moving them instantly one step forward in the competition. Alternatively, if judges are on the fence about the singer, they will place the contestant on a waitlist until the end of that day's auditions. Otherwise, if the contestant lacks the ability and performance value to proceed further, the contestant will be rejected.

Selection of top 20 - final level auditions

=Spot Selection Round (1 November 2014 – 23 November 2014)

= In the second and final stage of the audition process, contestants shortlisted from the open auditions arrive in a central location in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. They are expected to perform a song or two before a different panel of judges with a view of being selected as top 20 finalists of the show. For this stage of the process, the program host asserts that it is distinct from other reality shows as it does not embarrass unsuccessful contestants in the show by actively 'rejecting' them on the spot; rather, it actively encourages contestants in this stage to continue to improve their singing skills. Again, this panel then decides on-the-spot whether the contestant demonstrated enough ability and performance value to proceed further. If the contestant exhibited exceptional ability in their performance, judges award a "green card" shortlisting them instantly one step forward in the competition towards finalist selection. Otherwise, if judges are on the fence about the singer, they will ask the contestant to wait for a decision at the end of the final level auditions.

Episode 13 (1 November 2014)

* Judges: music director

Bharadwaj Bharadwaj ( hi, भारद्वाज) is a surname mostly used by Brahmins. Notable people with the surname include: *Abhay Bharadwaj (1954–2020), Indian advocate turned politician *Anasuya Bharadwaj (born 1982), Indian television presenter a ...

, veteran playback singer S. P. Sailaja, and

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

exponent Nithyasree Mahadevan * Host: Shriranjani * Performances: : – Special performance by non-contestant performer : – Contestant spot-selected to advance to next round : – Contestant waitlisted then selected on subsequent episode

Episode 14 (2 November 2014)

* Judges: music director

, veteran playback singer S.P. Sailaja, and Carnatic music exponent Nithyasree Mahadevan * Host: Shriranjani * Performances: : – Contestant spot-selected to advance to next round : – Contestant waitlisted then selected on subsequent episode

Episode 15 (8 November 2014)

* Judges: music director

, veteran playback singer S.P. Sailaja, and Carnatic music exponent Nithyasree Mahadevan * Host: Shriranjani * Performances: No contestants were spot-selected to advance to the next round in this episode. : – Contestant waitlisted then selected on subsequent episode

Episode 16 (9 November 2014)

* Judges: music director

Episode 17 (15 November 2014)

* Judges: music director

Episode 18 (16 November 2014)

* Judges: music director

, veteran playback singer S.P. Sailaja, and Carnatic music exponent Nithyasree Mahadevan * Host: Shriranjani * Performances: No contestants were spot-selected to advance to the next round in this episode. : – Special performance by guest judge/performer : – Contestant waitlisted then selected on subsequent episode

Episode 19 (22 November 2014)

* Judges: music director

Episode 20 (23 November 2014)

* Judges: music director

, veteran playback singer S.P. Sailaja, and Carnatic music exponent Nithyasree Mahadevan * Host: Shriranjani * Performances: At the conclusion of the auditions in this episode, the judges announced 10 of the top 20 finalists they selected to enter the competition this season. This included a recap of spot selected contestants from previous episodes in this round of auditions. : – Contestant spot-selected to advance to next round : – Contestant waitlisted then selected on subsequent episode

Spot-selected contestants

= Solo Introduction Round (29 November 2014 – 14 December 2014)

= * Judges: music director

, veteran playback singer S.P. Sailaja, and Carnatic music exponent Nithyasree Mahadevan * Host: Vaishali * Performances: The 10 finalists announced at the conclusion of episode 20, as well as 16 other contestants, were expected to perform over two performances rounds. The first round of performances were announced as the 'introduction' round. The second round of performances were announced as the 'duet' round. At the conclusion of the performances from both rounds, the judges were expected make a decision as to which other 10 contestants should be selected as top 20 finalists. This round required solo performances from the contestants.

= Duet Introduction Round (20 December 2014 – 28 December 2014)

= * Judges: music director

, veteran playback singer S.P. Sailaja, and Carnatic music exponent Nithyasree Mahadevan * Host: Vaishali * Performances: This round required duet performances from the contestants. At the conclusion of this round, the judges announced their decision as to the remaining contestants selected as top 20 finalists. The judges confirmed that although it was not possible for all contestants to participate in all rounds for various reasons (such as illness, exam studies, difficulties traveling interstate at an agreed time, and so forth), a decision was made taking into account the overall potential of each contestant from their performances to-date. After the judges announced the names of the other selected contestants, the host pointed out that 12 contestants were named instead of 10. The judges asserted the last two named contestants were lucky surprise selections but warned that those contestants should not become complacent as they were allowed into the competition by half marks.

Selected wait-listed contestants

Top 22 contestants

Shrinidhi is from

Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. ...

. She received training in

from prominent vocalist,

Nedunuri Krishnamoorthy Nedunuri Krishnamurthy (10 October 1927 – 8 December 2014) was an Indian Carnatic music, Carnatic vocalist.

. Lekshmi Jayan is from

. Somadas is from

. Prathipaa is from

. Keshav Vinodh initially auditioned at

Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

. Tanuj Nair initially auditioned at

. Sindhuja Srinivasan is from

. Aathreya Ganapathy initially auditioned at

. Nellaiappan Ram initially auditioned at

. Nisar Rutin Shah is from

. Vaanathishri initially auditioned at

Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

. Sai Ramya auditioned at

. Saariga S. Ganga is from

. Larson Cyril initially auditioned at

. He previously appeared on

's ''Ragamalika'' series. Vasundhara Shivakumar initially auditioned at

Bangalore, Karnataka Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. Ajay Krishna

Madurai, Tamil Nadu Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in T ...

. Madhumathi Venkat initially auditioned at

. Shaanthini is from

. Sathish Kumar is from

. Aravindh initially auditioned at

. Anusha Ravi initially auditioned at

. Ajay initially auditioned at

, and only just made it as a contestant on the show. However, he ceased appearing as a contestant on the show after the New Year Celebration Round.

Competition performance rounds

Contestant elimination chart

Contestants' listed in the order in which the finalists were announced as selected during the final audition rounds.

Main competition rounds

Contestants and special performers were accompanied by Ganesh Kirupa Light Music Orchestra.

=New Year (2015) Celebration Round - 2014 Hits (3 January 2015 – 11 January 2015)

= * Judges: veteran playback singer S. P. Sailaja, music director

, and Carnatic music exponent Nithyasree Mahadevan * Host: Vaishali * Performances: The first finals round of the season was telecast on 2 January 2015 in celebration of the New Year. The host announced this round as a celebration round in which no contestants would be eliminated. The top 22 contestants were required to perform hits from Tamil films released in the previous year, 2014. Before the performances were underway, an announcement was also made that as a New Year's gift, the best performing contestant(s) would be given a

opportunity by music director Bharadwaj, one of the show's judges. : – Special performance by non-contestant performer

= Tribute to "K.B Sir" Round (17 January 2015 – 8 February 2015)

= * Judges: veteran playback singer S. P. Sailaja, music director

, and Carnatic music exponent Nithyasree Mahadevan * Special Guest Judges: veteran playback singer

Vani Jairam Vani Jairam (born as Kalaivani on 30 November 1945), also credited as Vani Jayaram, is an Indian singer. She is best known as a playback singer in South Indian cinema. Vani's career started in 1971 and has spanned over five decades. She has do ...

(episodes 35, 36, 37, 38, & 39), comedian actor

Vivek Vivek (or Bibek/Bivek in some regions) (विवेक in Devanagari script) is a masculine given name that is popular in South Asia, particularly in India and Nepal. It is of Sanskrit origin and means "wisdom" and/or "conscience". Vivek may refe ...

(episodes 37 & 38) and playback violinist M. Kalyan (episodes 40, 41, 42, 43 & 44) * Host: Vaishali * Performances: This unique round was in tribute to prominent film director,

K. Balachander Kailasam Balachander (9 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an Indian film maker and playwright who worked mainly in the Tamil cinema. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the Indian film industry knew him as a master of un ...

("K.B Sir"). Throughout this round, each of the judges and chief guests made detailed comments filled with anecdotes about their experiences with the film director during their careers. Musical performances by the judges, chief guests, and top 21 contestants during this round consisted of songs featured in films directed by K. Balachander. Contestant Ajay did not participate or appear on the show for this round, and it was announced in the next round that he was no longer participating in the competition. Contestant Shrinidhi gave a stand-out performance. : – Special performance by non-contestant performer

= Remake Song Round (14 February 2015 – 28 February 2015)

= This unique round required the top 21 contestants to perform hit

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

film songs which were remade from hit film songs in other South Indian languages (

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

and

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

languages). The first part of the round consisted of solo performances, and the second part consisted of duet performances. At the commencement of the round, it was announced that contestant Ajay was no longer able to participate in the competition for an unavoidable reason, and that the next waitlisted contestant would be announced in the next round.

Solo Performances

* Judges: veteran playback singer S. P. Sailaja, music director

, and Carnatic music exponent Nithyasree Mahadevan * Host: Vaishali * Performances: Contestant Lekshmi Jayan could not attend the set to perform for this round for unavoidable reasons, but was permitted to sing a song for this round via telephone link. : – Special performance by non-contestant performer

Duet Performances

* Judges: veteran playback singer S. P. Sailaja and music director

* Host: Vaishali * Performances: The host noted that Nithyasree Mahadevan was unable to attend to judge the show in this week's episode. : – Special performance by non-contestant performer

= "Puratchi Thalaivi" Birthday Celebration Round (8 March 2015 – 29 March 2015)

= This unique round was in tribute to ''Puratchi Thalaivi'' ("Revolutionary Leader"): politician, actress, and artist,

Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

. The round celebrated Jayalalithaa's birthday and contributions. The first part of the round consisted of solo performances, and the second part consisted of duet performances. In celebration of the show reaching a 50th episode milestone, veteran playback singer

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

graciously accepted an invitation to appear on the show as a special guest judge over the first three episodes in this round.

Solo Performances

* Judges: veteran playback singer S. P. Sailaja, music director

, and Carnatic music exponent Nithyasree Mahadevan * Special Guest Judge: veteran playback singer

(episodes 50, 51, and 52) * Host: Vaishali * Performances: : – Special performance by non-contestant performer

Duet Performances

* Judges: veteran playback singer S. P. Sailaja, music director

, and Carnatic music exponent Nithyasree Mahadevan * Host: Vaishali * Performances: Judge S. P. Sailaja's comments throughout episode 55 were especially noteworthy. During episode 56, S. P. Sailaja also recounted in detail the circumstances surrounding her brother,

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

singing the song ''Aayiram Nilave Vaa'' which was appreciated by viewers of the show.

=Stage Songs Round (4 April 2015 – 12 April 2015)

= * Judges: veteran playback singer S. P. Sailaja, music director

, and Carnatic music exponent Nithyasree Mahadevan (except episode 60) * Host: Vaishali * Performances: This round required the contestants to perform songs belong to a "stage song" genre, such as film songs which were picturised on a concert stage. The host and judges S. P. Sailaja and Bharadwaj noted that Nithyasree Mahadevan was unable to attend to judge the show in episode 60. Before the commencement of the round, the judges gave detailed comments filled with anecdotes about their experience when they each performed on a concert stage for the first time. The exchange between host Vaishali and contestant Vaanathishri before her performance in episode 59 was enjoyed by viewers, as was the exchange between Bharadwaj and Vaishali before the beginning of episode 60. : – Special performance by non-contestant performer

=Pudhu Mugam Arimugam Round (18 April 2015 – 26 April 2015)

= * Judges: veteran playback singer S. P. Sailaja and music director

* Host: Vaishali * Performances: This "Pudhu Mugam Arimugam" (New Face Debut) Round required the contestants to perform songs featured in films released between 2011 and 2015 by film directors making their debut in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...

. : – Special performance by non-contestant performer

=Hero Heroine Introduction Round (2 May 2015 – 10 May 2015)

= * Judge: music director

* Guest Judges: violinist Padma Shankar (episodes 65 & 66 only) & vocalist Binny Krishnakumar : – Special performance by non-contestant performer

=Dedication Round (16 May 2015 – 24 May 2015)

= * Judge: music director

* Guest Judges: violinist Padma Shankar & vocalist Binny Krishnakumar Contestants had an opportunity to sing a song of their choice in dedication a person or people of their choice. In episode 69, contestant Shrinidhi confirmed she was a disciple of prominent

vocalist

Nedunuri Krishnamoorthy Nedunuri Krishnamurthy (10 October 1927 – 8 December 2014) was an Indian Carnatic music, Carnatic vocalist.

, and judge Binny Krishnakumar confirmed she was a disciple of

M. Balamuralikrishna Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna (6 July 1930 – 22 November 2016) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer, and character actor. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in ...

=Challenging Round (30 May 2015 – 7 June 2015)

= * Judge: music director

* Guest Judges: violinist Padma Shankar & vocalist Binny Krishnakumar

=SPB & Raajaa Birthday Celebration Round (13 June 2015 – 27 June 2015)

= * Judges: music director

, veteran playback singer S. P. Sailaja & guest Binny Krishnakumar * Special Guest: Prabhakar (Ilaiyaraaja's senior violin conductor) This round celebrated the birthdays of playback singer,

("SPB"), and music director

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

("Raajaa"). Contestants were required to perform songs sung by SPB and composed by Raajaa. Special guest Prabhakar gave outstanding advice to the contestants, and to all music students generally at the commencement of the round. SPB's sister, S. P. Sailaja, returned to judge the show. : – Special performance by non-contestant performer

=Family Songs Round (28 June 2015 – 12 July 2015)

= * Judges: music director

, veteran playback singer S. P. Sailaja & guest Binny Krishnakumar * Special Guest Judges: Film director

Vikraman Vikraman is an Indian film director primarily working in Tamil cinema. Career 1990–1994 He worked as an assistant to actor and director R. Parthiban in ''Puthiya Pathai'' (1989), which was the latter's debut film as a director and an actor. ...

(episode 86 only) & Carnatic music singers

Priya Sisters Shanmukhapriya and Haripriya, popularly known as the Priya Sisters, are Carnatic music singers. Early life They hail originally from Amalapuram in East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh. They attended Little Flower School in Chittoor, Andhra Pr ...

(episodes 82 & 83 only) * Host: Vaishali

=Voice Change Round (18 July 2015 – 1 August 2015)

= * Judges: music director

, veteran playback singer S. P. Sailaja & guest Binny Krishnakumar * Host: Vaishali This ''Maatru Kural Suttru'' ("Change Voice Round") required male contestants to perform film songs sung by female playback singers, and for female contestants to perform film songs sung by male playback singers.

=Quarter Finals Round: Tribute to MSV (2 August 2015 – 16 August 2015)

= * Judges: veteran playback singer S. P. Sailaja, music director

, & Carnatic music exponent Nithyasree Mahadevan (episodes 92 & 93 only) * Guest Judges: violinist Padma Shankar & vocalist Binny Krishnakumar * Host: Vaishali The quarter finals round required the contestants to attend and perform songs composed by music director

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

, who died earlier in the month. Nithyasree Mahadevan returned to judge the music competition reality show which pleased viewers. Nithyasree confirmed during episode 92 that she requested to be excused from attending several episodes due to commitments she made prior to the start of the competition. Following the last performances of the round in episode 95, the judges announced their decision in respect of eliminating contestants. Bharadwaj announced that contestant Somadas and contestant Sariga S. Ganga were eliminated for being absent and failing to perform, which viewers agreed with. S. P. Sailaja announced that due to unavoidable circumstances, contestants Shrinidhi & Sai Ramya were unable to attend to perform in this round, but as performances could only be judged after attendance, both contestants were unfortunately eliminated by default. Other than these 4 contestants, the judges also eliminated 7 participating contestants: Sathish, Aravindh, Nellaiappan, Tanuj, Madhumathi, Prathipaa, and Sindhujaa. Viewers disagreed with the decision to eliminate Shrinidhi, Madhumathi, and Nellaiappan.

Highlight Performances

: – Performance by non-contestant

External links

Jaya TV Schedule

Super singer
{{Tamil television shows Jaya TV television series Tamil-language reality television series Tamil-language singing talent shows 2010s Tamil-language television series 2014 Tamil-language television series debuts Tamil-language game shows Tamil-language television shows 2015 Tamil-language television series endings