INSTEP Comment
Making a case for the unconventional
Susan Boyle's fantastic debut on YouTube has telling lessons for the Pakistani music industry and proves 
that  at the end of the day, it is really talent that should count.

Saba Imtiaz

The minute - on that watched by millions YouTube video - Susan Boyle opens her mouth to belt out a fantastic version of 'I Dreamed a Dream', is enough to shatter any illusions one may have about how big a role image plays in how one views musicians. For years, one has seen a parade of pretty people on Pakistan's television screens: singers who should have only been allowed to sing in the shower becoming popular because they have a flashy video and a flashier wardrobe to boot. It is a telling sign of how immense the role is of image makeovers in Pakistan: the minute someone flashy comes on screen it is instantly assumed that this person must be talented. Whether it's a trickle down effect from Indian television glamourizing everything, including daytime soaps, or a result of globalization, one doesn't know. But the image seems to have overpowered talent.

And this hasn't been a new phenomenon. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - the late revered singer - often spoke of his displeasure at how his songs had become accompanied with flashy videos in India (the Lisa Ray video for 'Afreen Afreen' being a prime example) and it was the media boom in Pakistan that made an image makeover so essential for anyone looking to break into the mainstream. For years before that - particularly in the era of Music Channel Charts - one judged music on the basis of what it was, as opposed to how good-looking it was. Whether it was a longhaired Sajjad Ali, a dishevelled Dr aur Billa, the dorky Fakhr-e-Alam: these were all stars in Pakistan during those years that saw the music industry make a significant breakthrough.

But from Susan Boyle, one has been oddly reminded of those years. Of course, there are still musicians who have kept their own identity: Ali Azmat being an example of having stayed away from being overtly stylized for his videos. But the more important question here is: is there still a space in Pakistan for those who aren't conventionally beautiful?

One would think yes. After all - it is still talent that has managed to remain above the floating melee of average singers - it is singers like Shafqat Amanat Ali and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan that are amongst the most popular in Pakistan. However, even they have managed to become so popular because of their playback singing for Bollywood films, the videos for which inevitably feature one big name star or the other. Would 'Mitwa' have been such a big hit had the video not entirely comprised of Shah Rukh Khan?

And one must realize that the glamour quotient has only come with the mainstream pop/rock sound. With artistes from folk/qawwali music - one has never seen an effort to be dolled up for the cameras. One only needs to see people like Abida Parveen, Reshma, Pappu Saeen, Saeen Zahoor and any renowned qawwali group to know that while they may not be sporting designer outfits and blow-dries, their performance is never anything short of excellent.