Simon Cowell, Meet Tigerstyle

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Chickpea has been sending us tips for this video:

This is way better than Sanjaya, or that Pakistani dude who was on “America’s Got Talent” last year. And it has to be the widest exposure that Tigerstyle track (“Nachna Onda Nei”) has ever gotten. (I wonder who, if anyone, is getting royalties — since they’re sampling both Michael Jackson AND Vanilla Ice/David Bowie).

Simon’s question at the end is prescient, though. There’s not many Bhangra/pop/hip hop tracks that work as well as this one. (I seem to remember another Tigerstyle track that channels Bell Biv Devoe — perhaps that’s what these guys should do next…? Any suggestions for Suleman Mirza and Madhu Singh on how to keep up the surprise in round 2?)

43 thoughts on “Simon Cowell, Meet Tigerstyle”

  1. Way, way, way better than American Idol. Cool Britannia! This is what dance must have meant in the times gone by pre-pre-Tudor. No wonder the public finds an instant connection.

  2. I just saw this on the Net yesterday, and I quickly forwarded it off to all my friends. I think that Suleman Mirza was very polite and polished. It was great seeing Suleman and his friend, Madhu Singh, give each other a brotherly hug at the end.

    What is Suleman Mirza’s ethnic background? Is he biracial, Indian, or what? He has apparent Indian background, given his last name and his affiliations with Indian cultural events (i.e. some fashion show, dancing to Indian music, etc.).

  4. I’ve heard this track a while ago . v catchy.

    This was great…so funny. I love the way non desi Brits embrace bhangra and the bollywood ‘culture/music’ is so familiar to the regular Brit.

    balle balle

  5. The guys have been peforming this for a little while now at various events in the UK – very fun to watch a (primarily) non-desi crowd as well as the judges’ reactions to the act 🙂 Not sure if Piers’ off-rhythm clapping was real or a result of bad editing!

  8. aww .. madhu is a good family friend – so happy to see him on such a big stage. I’ve seen this routine of his at other shows, but this seems like it was much larger! Is this a current show?

  9. 2 · boston_mahesh said

    What is Suleman Mirza’s ethnic background? Is he biracial, Indian, or what? He has apparent Indian background, given his last name and his affiliations with Indian cultural events (i.e. some fashion show, dancing to Indian music, etc.).

    I read that he’s of Pakistani descent.

    Absolutely loved that clip! They’re fantastic!

  10. I saw this clip yesterday, actually, and I’m SO glad you listed the bhangra track, Amardeep! I’ve been wanting to get my hands on it.

  12. Comparing this act to Sanjaya is doing disservice to the quality of this one. These guys are way superior – Sanjaya had trifle little going for him.

  19. I think that while this act has been on the web for a few years, this just put them on another level. Is this the new season of Britain’s Got Talent? If so, I’d love to see what’s next.

  22. I’ve seen these two perform the same act at a different venue in another YouTube clip. They’re not the best dancers, but they’re definitely fun.

    I do love Tigerstyle – one of my other favorite tracks of theirs is Ishq Nagni. They also have this HOT remix of Mirala Bien.

  23. I’m wondering how the second guy managed to get on stage. Seems like the show must have known about the “surprise” ahead of time. Maybe it’s just the judges that didn’t know?

  25. Hilarious , yet the satire comes through, I don’t know why I felt it was really poignent …apart from it being funny… I mean it also made feel sad…

  26. It was cool…wasn’t blown away. I’m glad brown people are getting some good exposure here on television in the wake of Sanjaya and that Pakistani dude from America’s got Talent.

    Maybe I’m just used to seeing LOTS of Indian people on one stage performing dance. The energy level here wasn’t translating for me. Also, that cut to the really happy kid made me smile.

  29. That half-pakistani dude can dance!

    But shame on him for going for the cheap laughs making his sikh sidekick play the janitor. Sikhs are objects of ridicule among pakistanis and this fits that stereotype.

  31. Sampling Vanilla Ice/David Bowie!?!?! Lay off the crack, Amardeep — that’s Queen! OK, so Bowie gets partial credit, but I believe (the late Parsi) Freddie Mercury came up with the famous bass riff. Actually it might have been Brian May for all I know — but it wasn’t no VANILLA ICE, baby!

  33. 3 · NYC Akshay said

    Haha, definitely superior to Sanjaya, and very enjoyable!

    Not sure how you can appraise dancing in comparison to singing but lets see how long these guys last 😉

  34. 33 · Topcat said

    Not sure how you can appraise dancing in comparison to singing but lets see how long these guys last 😉

    ‘Tis my subjective opinion, of course. In general, I enjoyed this act more than I enjoyed Sanjaya, but I suppose if we were to compare their individual skill at what they do, I think these guys are better dancers than Sanjaya is a singer.

    Either way, I do hope they last!

  35. What a fantastic performance! I loved the prefect blend of the various songs. But what was up with those 2 moron hosts standing in the sidelines and giving commentary? I would have preferred to see the act itself. So did these guys win anything?

  36. 2 moron hosts standing in the sidelines and giving commentary

    LOL

    hey lay off ant and dec…they’re popular hosts in the UK akin to Ryan seacrest.

    And this act with the sikh guy has been going on for ages as Suleman has a dance production and has danced for several stars/ shows etc .\ It’s just he decised to go ‘mainstream’ by going toone 2008 Britains got talent show…it’s probably just for a laugh and it’s entertaining.

  37. this is amazing. love it. i’ve watched the video almost 20 times now, and the song is stuck in my head. i want it to be my ringtone, or something.

  38. Watching this video was just such a fun way to start my day…bloody brilliant 🙂 Thanks Amardeep!

    Now I’m wondering, ‘where is he now’?

    Sigh, now back to studying for Property Law…

  39. 31 · AlokAlok said

    Sampling Vanilla Ice/David Bowie!?!?! Lay off the crack, Amardeep — that’s Queen! OK, so Bowie gets partial credit, but I believe (the late Parsi) Freddie Mercury came up with the famous bass riff. Actually it might have been Brian May for all I know — but it wasn’t no VANILLA ICE, baby!

    Britain’s Got Talent – Michael Jackson vs Bhangra – “Nachna Onda Nei”

    [No. 10 Most Viewed Musician Video on YouTube this week!!!!!]

    Suleman Mirza & Madhu Singh dance to Tigerstyle’s “Nachna Onda Nei” – Bootelg mashup consisting of Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” & Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” on Britain’s Got Talent (week 3) aired on ITV on Saturday 26th April 2008

    Watch the Video here:

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=rj7LyS2NJZQ

    The track is available to the public for free download on their MySpace music player on: http://www.myspace.com/tigerstyleonline

    regards

  41. GUYS HOLD ON!!!!!!!!!!! suleman mirza is a PAKISTANI..as in half paksitani//not an indian nor an arab…he is pretty cool