Calcutta boy Mallar Karmakar’s elimination from STAR Voice of India along with that of Rahul from Maharashtra and Shraddha from Jharkhand has left show host Shaan fuming. Bollywood’s top playback singer, who swept all awards last year for Saawariya’s Jab se tere naina, is upset with the deserving being shown the door.

“Although the format has been more or less the same throughout, the audience voting sometimes takes out the best of talent,” Shaan tells t2 from Mumbai. “We at STAR Voice of India are still only concerned with the talent and the quality of singing. At a time when everyone is fighting for TRPs, it gives me hope that Gajendra Singh and his team are looking for the voices of tomorrow.”

Now a veteran at hosting talent hunt shows, Shaan is perhaps the only one on TV who doesn’t use a teleprompter. “I have seen other anchors and hosts reading their lines just the way they should but not anchoring or hosting the show,” he tries to explain. “As far as I am concerned, I never shy away on stage. I keep talking, keep singing, just keep at it. My only concern is the language — I am still not very good with Hindi. Aaro bhalo kore boltey hobey.”

Playback singing, show host and live concerts, Shaan always has his hands full. “I am physically not tired but my voice struggles,” he admits. “I sometimes cannot sing a song as well as I should because my voice has taken too much in the days leading up to the singing. Ideally I would like to cut down on my assignments. But hosting STAR Voice of India keeps me on my toes and helps me to be around fresh talent.”

Set to turn 36 on Tuesday, Shaan still gets excited about each and every new song he sings. Right now it’s Sooraj Barjatya’s Ek Vivah… Aisi Bhi that is keeping him upbeat. “I have sung all the songs for the film and I am really looking forward to the response,” he says. “The music is by Ravindra Jainji and it is very pure. The album release has been low-key but I hope people would listen to the songs and like the melody.”

Pratim D. Gupta