A glamorous and alluring evening
View(s):The last day in April brought in a distinguished gathering that constituted a ‘full house’ to the Grand Ballroom of the Galadari Hotel for a grand Sing-A-Long which was, in effect, a Fund Raiser for the welfare of cancer patients. The ambience was extraordinary. The table decor comprising beautiful, fresh flowers caught the eye of everyone as they entered the Ballroom. The evening began with Vijaya Corea, the charismatic Compere, coming on stage to speak a few revealing words about the prevailing needs of underprivileged cancer patients.
Following the opening remarks, it was time to strike up the band to Sing-a-Long and to their credit, Nalin & Star Combination responded warmly to the desires of the audience who were given the opportunity to call out their favourite numbers from an elegant Song Book. Moreover, there was a panel of judges who were moving around to pick the better Singing Tables where, ultimately, three tables had the opportunity to come up front and compete for an attractive prize. Compere, Vijaya Corea, was on his toes, ensuring that there was never a dull moment.
The success of the evening was spelt out in the fact that there was always something happening all the time. In other words, there was no ‘dead’ air when nothing was happening. In between the music and the draws, the Compere’s humour kept the audience in fits of laughter. A return air ticket to Bangkok and many other prizes went the way of several lucky winners via the Entrance Ticket Draw while the Business Cards Draw also saw many smiling lucky ones walking away delighted. The night grew older with the air being filled with beautiful music, which emanated from a vintage that threw up perennial favourites and evergreens. This resulted in maximum audience participation.
The second half of the evening took another turn for the better – the singing gave way to dancing! There was a spontaneous inflow onto the dance floor. People were so at ease as they swung their hips and threw up their hands to the lilt and beat of the excellent music that was a hallmark of the evening.
Then came Guest Star, Annesley Malawana who began by extolling the virtues of the Master of Ceremonies, Vijaya Corea who, he said, had launched both him and the late Clarence Wijewardane into the music and entertainment scene. He then went on to entertain the crowd to the Sinhala pop hits of the 70s which, again, brought still more on to the dance floor. The natural sequence was the conduct of the Baila Competition which saw the suave performance of the winning couple, Sujeeva and Asitha, qualifying them for the prize. Thereafter, they were called upon to provide a demonstration of their skills at dancing the Baila, which they did most adeptly.
It is worth remembering that this Fund Raiser ‘Sing-A-Long’, for which all tickets were sold out six days in advance, was staged for a good cause, designed to provide humanitarian assistance to the needy. It was professionally organised and replete with all the ingredients that provided relaxation, entertainment and enjoyment. When it was time to bring the curtain down, many were heard to publicly exclaim that it was an uncommon evening that they would long remember.
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