Indian Idol 10 Grand Premiere: Salman Ali emerges as favourite of fans

Sony Entertainment Television's music reality show is in its tenth season this year. The Indian Idol 10 auditions began on July 7, 2018, and the show this week announced the Top 14 contestants who will compete for the top spot in the remaining episodes of the show. The Indian Idol 10 Grand Premiere airs on July 28 and 29, 2018, on Sony Entertainment Television.

Indian Idol 10 is judged by Bollywood music director Anu Malik, singer-composer Vishal Dadlani and singer Neha Kakkar and is hosted by Maniesh Paul. Anu Malik was one of the earliest judges of the popular music reality show that has won the hearts of music lovers in India as much as American Idol has.

On the first episode of the Indian Idol 10 Grand Premiere on Saturday, July 28, contestant Salman Ali emerged among the favourite of fans. Salman Ali has been nicknamed the 'Salman Khan' of Indian Idol 10, after the Bollywood superstar. Salman Ali is the youngest among the Top 14 Indian Idol 10 contestants and has mesmerised listeners with his voice.

Twitter was abuzz with fans asking people to vote for Salman Ali. "Guys please please vote for #SalmanAli voting lines are closed on 10pm today so please go and vote for him. #IndianIdol" said one fan, while the other said, "My favorite contestant is #SalmanAli His voice, singing and way to singing is so Amazing Dekh lena 100% iss baar ka winner Salman Ali hi hoga Screenshot le lo Pranaam aap sabhi ko And love for all of u and Indian idol." Anogther fan simply shared pictures of Salman Ali and said, "luv u bro" (sic).

The other singers who were appreciated were Renu Nagar, Saurabh Valmiki and Nitish Kumar. It looks like all the Top 14 contestants of Indian Idol 10 are gems!

The occasion of Guru Purnima was also celebrated on the sets of the show, with the Top 14 contestants of Indian Idol 10 presenting a token of respect to the judges in the form of an idol of Goddess Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge in Hindu mythology.

It was announced before the show that the Grand Premiere episodes of Indian Idol 10 will have special guests, including eminent Bollywood playback singers like Rekha Bhardwaj, Javed Ali, Kailash Kher, Amit Mishra, Ash King, Jubin Nautiyal and Suzanne D'Mello, as also Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2009 winner Vaishali Mhade and Indian Idol 5 winner Sreerama Chandra.

On Saturday's episode of the Grand Premiere of Indian Idol 10, Sreerama Chandra was especially praised. The singer came in to support contestant Saurabh Valmiki from Lakhimpur.