Talent unveiled

Rappers from the hills, Bollywood moves from Colombo and a great combination of music, song and dance… that was Talent Search 2003.
By Aaysha Cader
In the end it was Kandy all the way, as the blokes from the hill capital swept the boards at the Interact Grammies winning the solo, group vocal and rap categories.
Yes, talent was certainly abundant as the 13th annual ‘Interact Grammys’ went on stage to a packed audience at the Navarangahala hall on November 29. Organized by the Interact Clubs of St. Bridget’s Convent and Royal College, the project aimed to ‘create an opportunity for talent to unveil itself’ among the youth of this country.

The show began with the traditional lighting of the not-so-traditional oil lamp followed by the curtain raiser, a dance act by St. Bridget’s Convent. Unveiling the fabulous backdrop of Talent Search’s vivid theme colours of orange, yellow and red, the girls danced to the soundtrack of the popular Hindi movie Dil Se. It was an awesome start to an evening that promised four hours of entertainment from the stars of tomorrow.

Co-project chairpersons of Talent Search, Interactors Oshadini and Javid made the opening address. The first finalist of the solo singing category was Shehan Somaratne of D.S. Senanayake College with his rendition of an Elton John classic ‘Something about the way you look tonight’.

Kicking off the dance performances were the students of Methodist College with a well-co-ordinated routine to the tunes of ‘Try Again’. Contesting in the ‘group’ singing category, Shaza and Tamara of Holy Family Convent gave an inspiring rendition of ‘You light up my life’ sung with visible rapport between the two.

The winner of the oriental dance category Kaumadie Wickramasinghe of Ladies College gave an impressive display of traditional Kandyan dancing. In an entertaining performance in the instrumental category, a group from St. Joseph’s College, ‘The Spheres’ had the crowds clamouring for more as they produced quality music from classical hits to Sinhala baila. The Joes combined a host of instruments, including guitar, flute and drums to entertain the crowd with the tunes of ‘I Can’t help falling in love with you’, ‘La Bamba’ and the popular baila ‘Denna Dena…’ A talented performance by the flutist in particular made this item a hit.

The winner of the solo singing category, Hansa Warnakulasuriya of Trinity College, Kandy performed an original titled ‘Everything’ which he had composed. Slightly reminiscent of the tunes and lyrics of popular love songs, but a laudable effort nonetheless Hansa had the audience spellbound. He also gave an accomplished rendition of ‘You make me wanna’ by Blue. The crowd then witnessed a second performance by the Josephians, this time in the group singing section. They delighted the audience with a wonderful rendition of ‘In the still of the night’ among other hits.

Bishopian Safra Deen with her powerful voice heralded a shift from mellower performances that the evening had witnessed so far, as she sang Whitney Houston’s ‘I will always love you’ to the accompaniment of the piano and the alto sax, also played by students of BC.

Featured next were the pre-judged winners of the rap category, three guys and a girl. ‘Silent Project’ the blokes from the hill capital were far from ‘silent’ as they rapped with fabulous rhythm and coordination. Coming from four different Kandy schools, the youngsters were certainly Eminems in the making, as they coupled their impressive rap display with appropriate attire and rhythmic sway.

Next up was the second performance in the instrumental category as two guys from Isipathana College presented an oriental instrumental performance to give the audience a selection of ethnic Sinhalese music with the tunes of Varamathi Subhacharithaya. It also saw an innovative performance where one of the duo ventured to compose a tune by smacking his lower jaw with his hands. The Isipathanians played versions of baila as well as the popular hit ‘Shalala’.

The winners of the Modern Dance category, the students of Bishop’s College tapped their toes to the tunes of Pink’s ‘You make me sick’. It was a class act, with perfect timing and impeccable coordination not to mention choreography. Trinitians Hansa and Jonathan from the group ‘Next Step’ produced a winning performance with the classic hit ‘Follow me’ in the group-singing category.

The Interactors of Colombo Metropolitan group sang the popular Ashanthi and Ranidu hit Oba magemai in addition to their renditions of English numbers. The performance could have been enhanced with a more coordinated harmonising of voices. Six girls of Colombo International School went all Indian as they danced to the tunes of popular Hindi numbers including Bhole Chudiya off the movie Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham. It was a well-synchronized display. Combined with their colourful costumes, they were a hit with the audience, but with a well-choreographed performance, the Bishopians emerged the eventual winners at dance.

Next up was a guest performance by Nadini and Dilini of St. Bridget’s Convent with their beautiful rendition of ‘You are the wind beneath my wings’. Delivered with style and character, their duet drew applause from an appreciative audience.

‘Jada’, the eventual winners of the newly-introduced band category walked on stage to cheers from the crowd, and entertained many to a variety of tunes from 80s rock culminating with popular Sinhala baila. A well-mixed medley wrapped up the Jada performance that saw songs from American Dream and ‘Uncle Johnsonge jubili patiya’.
The boys from Kandy took the stage once again, for the second band performance, this time from St Sylvester’s College who interestingly enough called themselves the ‘OK Guys’. Their performance was more than OK as they performed with a fine blend of both Eastern and Western instruments, coupled with good voices to entertain the crowd with both Sinhala and English numbers.

The final performance and the eventual winners of the hotly-contested instrumental category was by six versatile students from D.S. Senanayake College, playing a host of instruments which included the piano, shakers, guitar, flute, violin and tabla. They left the audience totally in the groove with soundtracks from Mission Impossible, 007, Bhangra tunes of Punjabi MC and a couple of Latin songs including ‘El Chocla’. With St. Joseph’s putting up a fabulous show as well, this category must certainly have been a tough one for the judges.

A band from Colombo International School were the final contestants with alternative and rock music featuring songs of typical hard rock calibre named ‘Paranoid’ and ‘Breaking the Law’, just a trifle too loud for the audience. A guest appearance by ‘Cyphers Burnout’ a band comprising students from Royal College, wrapped up the performances at Talent Search 2003 in an entertaining evening that saw great performances, not to mention an over-enthusiastic crowd that was so loud that at times they drew the attention away from the contestants.

Taking Talent Search into the hills for the first time in the history of the contest has certainly helped unearth new talent this year, as Trinity College Kandy (TCK) walked away with the award for the best overall school performance as well. “We had no idea we were going to win, and we are really thrilled!” said an ecstatic Hansa from TCK.
Talent Search 2003 was sponsored by the Academy of Business Studies, and co-sponsored by BrylCreem, Sperrys, Sri Lankan Airlines, Keells and Ceylon Cold Stores. The Sunday Times was the print media sponsor, with Yes FM as electronic media sponsors. The Official Design School was the Academy of Digital Arts.

All in all, it was a great night out for music lovers, as up-and-coming performers, all under the age of 20, entertained the young and old. It was a superbly organized show by the youth for the youth of this country. Hats off to the performers and organizers alike!!
Judges for the finals were Soundarie David, Antonio Ferdinandez, Timothy Senevirathne, Kumudinie David and Eshantha D’ Andrado

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