Final countdown for bands and soloists
Harinee
After hundreds of entries for soloist and band categories, the contestants of TNL onstage season 16, face the final showdown for this latest season. The finals set to take place on September 3 will feature five bands and five soloists battling it out for the coveted title at the Viharamahadevi Amphitheatre.
For 16-years, the competition has been a platform boosting local musicians. This time it was made mandatory for all finalists to perform an original at the finals. Apart from the contestants, the finals will also feature one of TNL’s biggest local headliner line-ups to date.As Stigmata, Slipping Chairs, Magic Box and Cosmogyral will also take the stage.
Earlier this week, the Mirror Magazine met up with the soloists, as they got ready to take on what they feel is one of the biggest challenges of their lives.
It was his parents’ initial push that first got, Nigel Lord into music, he tells us. This was at the time they sent him for singing classes . Thereafter St. Joseph’s College, his Alma mater allocated a subject for singing, this edged him along and soon he was automatically part of the college primary choir.
“I’d say that singing really started to grow on me there. I went on to joining the college senior choir and now I’m a member of The Old Joes’ Choir,” he says.
This is not the first time; he takes on the big stage. Nigel was a semi-finalist on Season 11, back in 2011. This time however, he hopes to fulfil that one dream he had of winning the competition.
Nineteen year old Thiysuri Ranatunga, looks to mesmerise the audience with the two songs that she has lined up for finals night. “I have decided to do an original and a cover. The cover is very emotional and I want the audience to feel it when I sing. I feel that I have the ability to do this,” she tells us.
Thiysuri would not have taken up singing, if her teachers hadn’t pointed her in the direction. She won silver, the first time she took the stage in 2008 at the Sri Lanka festival of music, dance and speech. She didn’t stop here, took Gold at the same competition in 2010 and 2011.
Apart from this Thiysuri has also come in third place at two other school talent competitions and she also won at Revolution, organised by St. Thomas College, in April this year.
Thiysuri
Emmanuel Eze, who’s in the midst of preparing for his examinations at Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), says that maintaining a proper balance between music and his studies is key to him. He tells us that winning onstage would mean proving to himself, that he could achieve anything he sets his mind to.
He first started singing at six, Emmanuel recalls. His dad bought him, his first keyboard and sent him for lessons. Sooner, he started playing at his church, back in his home country, Nigeria. When he came to Sri Lanka in 2011, to pursue his higher studies, he got more involved in music and is now part of the band ‘Odyssey’.
Harinee Weerasinghe, 20, decided to take part in Onstage, after her friend and colleague Nikhil D’Almeida, won Onstage in 2014. Harinee, who studied at Stafford and ACBT, tells us that she plays music at her leisure.
She feels that throughout the competition, she got deeper into music as the practice sessions went on. “The competition around me inspired me to step up my game,” she adds. Harinee is comfortable playing indie and pop rock and she tells us that she wants to do something different for the finals. She hopes that the audience will feel that difference as well.
Meanwhile Dilrukshan Perera, 23, is looking to make his break into the music industry through the competition. It was his parents, who first recognised his talent and encouraged him to sing more, he tells us. He first started off with oriental music but then soon got into Western music as well.
He is no stranger to onstage having competed back in 2014, Dilrukshan only made it to the semis. However this time, he finally made it to next week’s finals. “I don’t accept failure. I want to break into the industry somehow, he says adding that if he wins, it would definitely be a game changer for him because he wants to do music full time.
| Bands into the finalThe five bands competing at the finals include V3, Scintillate, Kingdom Life, SouthWest Jam and Farenheight. Scintillate is an all- girl acapela group that covers music from different genres, most of which include, Pop and Hip-hop. The group first formed in 2011 with fifteen members after they sang together in the St Lawrence Convent choir. Today they comprise of four members. Their uniqueness at the competition lies in the fact that they are the only acapela group taking on the stage. They hope that their harmonies and beat boxing skills will see them through to the finish line. Kingdom Life is also making a difference being the only Gospel band to take on the stage this year. The band is the second Gospel band to take part in the competition, after ‘Ezra’ won it in 2002. The band formed two years ago and already has three singles under their belt. The group consists of eight talented individuals, who met up at the King’s Revival church, Mount Lavinia. Their music includes a mixture of Urban and Gospel music, however their main focus at the moment is, Rock and Rap music. But they don’t plan on being limited by one genre. SouthWest Jam is a classic rock band that consists of five talented members, who all schooled together at St Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya. They are inspired by the likes of Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Whitesnake and Eric Clapton. They hope to perform an original at the finals, with a little difference. Farenheight, started off four years ago. However throughout the years, they have had several changes and are currently performing with an entirely new line-up that has been together for the past five months. The band performs Alternative rock, Hard rock and Punk rock music. Their main aim, however is to build up the Punk Rock scene in Sri Lanka, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, MinroImpett, tells us. He adds that the band hopes to do something special with their originality. Their plan for the finals is to do an experimental set list and to showcase their originality. V3, just like their name is the smallest band in the competition. They enjoy playing rock, reggae and the blues. |
Dilrukshan
Emmanuel
Nigel
Pix by Jehan Seedin, Prasanna Welangoda and Jason Eardly