Airtel Super Singer 3 – Thamizhagathil Brahmaanda Kuralukkaana Thedal – Immurai Ulaga Alavil, the third season of the Airtel Super Singer show, was a reality-based Indian singing competition in Tamil language that aired on Vijay TV. It was designed to be a talent hunt to find the best voice of Tamil Nadu. The show premiered on 12 July 2010, and episodes were telecast between Monday to Thursday each week at 9:00 pm. Persons above the age of 16 years were permitted to audition to showcase their talent on Vijay TV's platform.
The show was initially hosted by Divya Vijayagopal during the audition rounds. For the performance rounds by the top 25 contestants, voice trainer Ananth Vaidyanathan appeared fairly regularly on the show together with permanent judges Srinivas, Sujatha Mohan, P. Unnikrishnan, and hosts Divya Vijayagopal and Sivakarthikeyan. The hosts in each episode of the top 25 performance rounds announced that the winner would win a triple bedroom apartment worth Rs.3.7 million from its season 3 sponsor, Arun Excello Temple Green Township.
Special guest judges or guest performers who appeared on the show during the season consisted of a variety of eminent playback singers and music directors, including P. B. Sreenivas, P. Susheela, M. S. Viswanathan, S. Janaki, Unni Menon, Sadhana Sargam, S. P. Sailaja, Ranina Reddy, Nithyasree Mahadevan, Suchithra, Sriram Parthasarathy, Harish Raghavendra, Sangeetha Rajeshwaran, Madhu Balakrishnan, Karthik, Ramya NSK, Pushpavanam Kuppuswamy, Vinaya Karthik Rajan, Sowmya, Pop Shalini, as well as stars from the junior version of the show, such as permanent judges Mano and Malgudi Subha, and former contestants Anitha Karthikeyan, Ajeesh, and Alka Ajith.
Auditions Auditions commenced on 27 June 2010, and took place in Chennai, Coimbatore, and Trichy. Ground level auditions were telecast from 12 July 2010. Preliminary round auditions were telecast from 16 August 2010.
A total of 78 contestants were selected from Chennai, 58 contestants were selected from Coimbatore, and 41 were selected from Trichy to advance to the preliminary auditions.
Open auditions in Tamil Nadu The ground level auditions were judged by Dr. Lavanya, Suvi Suresh, J.K.V.Roshni, as well as former contestants of Airtel Super Singer, being Anitha, Ajeesh and Ravi.
Open auditions were held across Tamil Nadu.
Main level auditions All main level auditions were held in Chennai.
"Fast Song Slow Song" Chennai Round (16 August 2010 – 19 August 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges: Unni Menon, Nithyasree Mahadevan, Haricharan, & Harish Raghavendra
This round required auditioning contestants selected in Chennai to perform a fast song before the panel of guest judges consisting of Nithyasree Mahadevan, Haricharan, Unni Menon & Harish Raghavendra. If the judges requested the auditioning contestant to perform another song, the contestants were required to perform a slow song. Contestants were either spot-selected, rejected, or wait-listed until the conclusion of the round.
"Fast Song Slow Song" Coimbatore and Trichy Round (23 August 2010 – 26 August 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges: Unni Menon, Nithyasree Mahadevan, Mahathi, & Harish Raghavendra
This round required auditioning contestants selected in Coimbatore and Trichy to perform a fast song before the panel of guest judges consisting of Nithyasree Mahadevan, Mahathi, Unni Menon & Harish Raghavendra. If the judges requested the auditioning contestant to perform another song, the contestants were required to perform a slow song. Contestants were either spot-selected, rejected, or wait-listed until the conclusion of the round.
New Songs Round (30 August 2010 – 2 September 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges: Nithyasree Mahadevan, Harish Raghavendra, S. P. Sailaja & Pop Shalini
This round required auditioning contestants to perform a song from films released after 2005 before the panel of guest judges consisting of Nithyasree Mahadevan, S. P. Sailaja, Pop Shalini, & Harish Raghavendra. If the judges requested the auditioning contestant to perform another song, the contestants were required to perform a slow song. Contestants were either spot-selected, rejected, or wait-listed until the conclusion of the round.
Old Songs Round (6 September 2010 – 9 September 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges: S. P. Sailaja, Pop Shalini, Harish Raghavendra, & Mahathi
This round required auditioning contestants to perform a song from old films before a panel of guest judges consisting of Harish Raghavendra, S. P. Sailaja, Pop Shalini, & Mahathi. If the judges requested the auditioning contestant to perform another song, the contestants were required to perform a slow song. Contestants were either spot-selected, rejected, or wait-listed until the conclusion of the round.
Group Medley Round (13 September 2010 – 16 September 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges: S. P. Sailaja, Malgudi Shubha, Unni Menon, & Sowmya
This round split auditioning contestants into small teams who were required to perform a medley of songs on a given theme. Contestants were either spot-selected, rejected, or wait-listed until the conclusion of the round.
Performance Round (20 September 2010 – 23 September 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges:
This round required auditioning contestants to impress the judges with their performances through their singing, dancing, and general entertainment. Contestants were either spot-selected, rejected, or wait-listed until the conclusion of the round.
One on One Challenge Round (27 September 2010 – 30 September 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges: S. P. Sailaja, Nithyasree Mahadevan, Unni Menon & Sowmya
This 1 on 1 challenge round required auditioning contestants to compete against another contestant selected at random. The panel of guest judges consisted of Nithyasree Mahadevan, Unni Menon, S. P. Sailaja, and Sowmya. The winning contestant in each challenge was spot-selected to advance to the next round, while the other contestant was waitlisted.
Duet Round (4 October 2010 – 7 October 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges: Mano, K. S. Chithra, & Malgudi Shubha
This round required auditioning contestants to perform a song as a duet with a top contestant from season 2 and season 1 of the show, or season 2 of the junior version of the show. The performances were judged by permanent judges of the junior version of the show in season 2. Contestants were either spot-selected, rejected, or wait-listed until the conclusion of the round.
Devotional Film Songs Round (11 October 2010 – 14 October 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges: Nithyasree Mahadevan, S. P. Sailaja, & Sowmya
This Thirai Isai Bhakthi Paadalgal (Devotional Film Songs) round required auditioning contestants to perform a film song of a devotional genre before a panel of guest judges consisting of Nithyasree Mahadevan, S. P. Sailaja, and Sowmya. Contestants were either spot-selected, rejected, or wait-listed until the conclusion of the round.
"Sigarangalin Sangeetham" Round (18 October 2010 – 21 October 2010) Host: Guest Judges: Nithyasree Mahadevan, Vani Jairam, L. R. Eswari, Malaysia Vasudevan, Mano & P. B. Sreenivas
This Sigarangalin Sangeetham round required auditioning contestants to perform a song out of six "legendary" playback singers who were guest judges this week. The guest judges consisted of Malaysia Vasudevan (chief guest), P. B. Sreenivas, Nithyasree Mahadevan, L. R. Eswari, Vani Jairam, and Mano. The format of this round was similar to the 1 on 1 challenge as each contestant would compete with at least two other contestants. The winning contestant in each challenge was spot-selected to advance to the next round, while the other contestants were waitlisted.
Rain Songs Round (25 October 2010 – 28 October 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges: Sowmya, S. P. Sailaja, & Malgudi Shubha
The Mazhai (Rain) Songs round required contestants to perform a song which fitted the theme of the week – rain. Contestants were either spot-selected, rejected, or wait-listed until the conclusion of the round.
Deepavali Special (1 November 2010 – 3 November 2010) Host: Sivakarthikeyan (male team) versus Kalyani (female team) Guest Judges (1 November 2010): (male team) versus (female team) Guest Judges (2 November 2010): C. Gopinath (male team) versus Malgudi Shubha (female team) Guest Judges (3 November 2010): (male team) versus Suchithra (female team)
This special round was in celebration of the Hindu festival of Deepavali. The auditioning contestants were split into teams of male contestants and female contestants against each other, and had an opportunity to perform classical songs in the episode telecast on 1 November 2010, folk songs in the episode telecast on 2 November 2010, and western (night club) songs in the episode telecast on 3 November 2010. No auditioning contestants were rejected or eliminated from the competition in this week's performances.
Writer's Voice Round (8 November 2010 – 11 November 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges: Snehan (9 November 2010 episode only), Na. Muthukumar (11 November 2010 episode only), S. P. Sailaja, Malgudi Shubha & Sowmya
This "Kaviyin Kural" (Poet's Voice) round required contestants to perform songs with beautiful lyrics or poetry. Contestants were either spot-selected, rejected, or wait-listed until the conclusion of the round.
The episode telecast on 8 November 2010 required contestants to perform songs penned by Kannadasan.
The episode telecast on 9 November 2010 required contestants to perform songs penned by Vaali, and lyricist Snehan appeared as a guest judge during this episode.
The episode telecast on 10 November 2010 required contestants to perform songs penned by Vairamuthu.
The episode telecast on 11 November 2010 required contestants to perform songs penned by Na. Muthukumar, who also appeared as a guest judge during this episode.
Love Songs Round (15 November 2010 – 18 November 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges: S. P. Sailaja, Malgudi Shubha, Unni Menon & Sowmya
This round required the auditioning contestants to perform love songs. Contestants were either spot-selected, rejected, or wait-listed until the conclusion of the round.
Knockout Round (21 November 2010 – 25 November 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges: S. P. Sailaja, Sowmya, Unni Menon & Malgudi Shubha
This round split the contestants into pairs, and required each pair to sing the same song. The contestant who provided the better performance of the song was spot-selected, while the other contestant was wait listed until the conclusion of the round.
"Thullal Songs" Round (29 November 2010 – 2 December 2010) Host: Kalyani Guest Judges: S. P. Sailaja, Unni Menon & Malgudi Shubha
The Thullal Songs round required male auditioning contestants to perform a song typically sung when introducing a hero in films, and female auditioning contestants to perform a song of a "peppy" genre which are associated with heroines in films.
Emotion Round (6 December 2010 – 9 December 2010) Host: Kalyani Guest Judges: Unni Menon, Sowmya, S. P. Sailaja & Malgudi Shubha
This round required auditioning contestants to perform songs which evoke emotions. Contestants were either spot selected, rejected, or wait listed until the conclusion of the round.
Last Qualifying Round (13 December 2010 – 16 December 2010) Host: Guest Judges: S. P. Sailaja, Unni Menon & Malgudi Shubha
Recall Round (20 December 2010 – 23 December 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges: Nithyasree Mahadevan, Unni Menon, Sowmya, Malgudi Shubha & Ananth Vaidyanathan
Celebration Round (27 December 2010 – 30 December 2010) Permanent Host: Divya Guest Judges: Unni Menon, Sowmya, Malgudi Shubha & Ananth Vaidyanathan
Finalists