Nithya Ramani caught up with Shaan and got him to sing for us as well. Excerpts from a conversation:

From singing to hosting a reality show. What gives?

I never thought of singing as a career, nor did I want to be a singer. I'm the worst singer in my family of singers and composers. I used to get offers for jingles through family connections. But as time went by, I got some serious offers and realised that singing was my calling.

I had decent success in playback singing with Dil Chahta Hai. But I got offers to host television shows even before that. Sonu Nigam had finished hosting Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and [producer] Gajendra Singh approached me to replace him. I was not convinced about it because I couldn't speak Hindi fluently. I still make blunders in gender differentiation.

I wasn't a trained singer either, so if anybody asked me to comment on somebody's singing, I would shut up. I did not want to make a fool of myself.

The initial few episodes were terrible. There was a cut after every third line. I didn't know my Hindi was so bad until this show. However, I think I managed to pull off the initial episodes with my smile. So if I goofed up somewhere, I would simply smile. But now it's been seven years since I have been hosting shows, and I think I've got the hang of it.

Video: Hitesh Harisinghani

Also See: Catch Rahman, Salman sing Yuvvraaj

Next