Battling it out ‘voice off ’style
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Avineash Amarnath’
The Mirror Magazine catches up with the young finalists of the much anticipated musical evening ‘Revolution of Sound’ Revolution of Sound or “Revo” as it’s more popularly known is back. Organized by the Interact Club of St. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia, the ‘Revolution of Sounds’ has a happy thirteen shows under its banner over the years.
Dinushi
A musical evening of contemporary young talent as it has always been this year a newer tradition is being continued. Last year for the first time “voice-off” was introduced, which essentially is a category under which soloists could compete for votes. This year, we to speak to five finalists before they battle it out for their fans’ votes.
For Diarra Wickremasinghe of Bishop’s College juggling music and studying has been a way of life. She’s 16 and has O Levels looming ahead in December but “It’s ok, I manage to rehearse about three times a week.” Her attraction to music she says isn’t of the picky sort “I adore all kinds of music, from Ed Sheeran to Jay Z.” She shares that it was her mash-up cover of ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and ‘Come On Get Higher’ that got her a spot in the finals. Friends and parents were a huge force behind getting her to audition, which she hasn’t regretted so far. “I enjoyed meeting new people and hearing new sounds.” Whatever her future holds Diarra says she’s confident that she will make time for singing.
When Avineash Amarnath’s mother hummed a tune at home, he was paying more attention than she knew. “That’s how I picked it up” he smiles. A student in grade 12 at Royal College Avineash studies Maths subjects at school, but is also a trained oriental singer. “I know Karnatic music but I like the Western style as well.” Rendering a convincing Bruno Mars number at the audition round, slow ballad-like songs are what he feels he can do best. This isn’t the first large-scale competition for him though. Entering and winning a national singing competition in 2007 for his prowess in the oriental style he feels it’s time he tried his talent singing an English number. Whatever the outcome at the finals, with a firm nod he says “I’m going to create songs in the future.”
Nikolina Menik Tute is 15 and schools at Elizabeth Moir. She didn’t have a chance to prepare for her audition because “my best friend signed me up and only told me to show up at the location of the auditions.” Her sense of music is very “go with the flow” and reflects what she feels at any given moment. Acting is another one of her passions. “I would act-out situations with my mother when we get bored,” she laughs. Enjoying her experience of getting to know fellow finalists, the downside of competitions of this nature has to be competing with people she enjoys spending time with. Positive that singing will always be a part of her life she feels honoured to be given a chance to express herself.
Also interested in a wide range of genres Sumaya Steele is yet another finalist for this year. Currently a student at Ladies’ College she says apart from the Pop and Rock sounds that she usually listens to “I’ve recently got into Indi music.” Intrigued by the experience of last year’s finalists Sumaya auditioned because “it looked like fun, and I’ve never done anything like this.” Unlike the rest of the contestants however for this 18 year old, singing is merely a change of scene. Intending to study history in university she also enjoys swimming.
Dinushi Gunawansa prefers the classics. Celine Dion is the ideal for this 17 year old. Prompted to audition by fellow inter-actors at Anula Vidyalaya and her friends her audition was a soulful rendition of yet another classic, I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston. As much as her friends’ encouragement helped she says a part of her “always wanted to take part” as a means of pushing her limits. A product of a very musical family and the Ashanthi School of Music, Dinushi is gearing up to deliver yet another musical classic at the finals. The most difficult part she feels is going to be getting onstage because she “suffers from a slight level of stage fright” but rehearsals have made it considerably easier. (VP)
