TV
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Shehan
falls far behind the rest I was not influenced by anyone and therefore I bear no "Personal antagonism" against Shihan whatsoever. Why should I? Mrs. Jayasundara, I'm certainly aware of the fact that a Super Star should be able to be a good presenter as well. But I'm also aware of the fact that good looks and presentation only play a minor role in a true Super Star and that the prominence should be given to talent and only talent. An individual can acquire these other qualifications that you have mentioned later on, whereas talent is something you are born with. I'm sorry Mrs. Jayasundara but we are not looking for just another pretty face. Correct
me if I'm wrong but you yourself have said that you are dead against
the SMS voting system because then it is the popularity that is
measured and not the talent. If according to your good looks and
presentation play a major role, then please be kind enough to explain
as to why so many people criticize a number of young singers in
the present industry by saying that they have less talent in singing
and only the ability to dance around on stage? And
as for your challenge, just as you say that Shihan is in fact the
most talented, I have no hesitation in saying that in comparison
to the singing talents displayed by Malith, Amila and Dharshana,
Shihan falls far behind. You have said that the elimination of Shihan was quite unfair and that it created doubt. Well then if they did not have a soft corner towards Shihan, why did they give in to all these "false" accusations as you call them, and eliminate him? It was all about saving their skin. It was nothing but a puny bid to try and rectify their fast diminishing reputation. If Sihan had been treated equally he may have had gone on to be the Super Star. If that were the case, then I wouldn't have thought it to be unjust, for then it would have been fair and square because he would have had only the votes of the viewers to influence him. Unfortunately it was not to be. Finally, I leave you with this question as food for thought. What if this very competition was held in the form of Radio Super Star and the visuals of these contestants were not seen? I'm sure many others and even you Mrs. Jayasundara would have thought otherwise. Stop
this SMS menace But this SMS system, we condemn it. Please stop this menace. It's not fair for the participants. We're truly sorry for talented Superb - future "Rookantha Shihan Mihiranga. Yes something is wrong some where. ‘Sirasa
Super Star’ : Who is the Fool? First of all I must tell that I have neither met him nor spoken to him or even have a sex appeal. I have become a fan only through this programme; still he is not my most favourite. The writer made a big fuss about him entering the competition from Habarana allegedly posing as a rural lad. Sadly she believes Weliveriya is a part of Colombo. According to my poor geographical knowledge, it is a sub-urban town situated 25-30 km from Colombo in Gampaha District. Still I can't understand the relevance of it as the rural folks like Ajith have come up with ideas pasting printed posters around Colombo asking for 'Manape'. The writer miserably failed to understand the difference between a singing competition and a reality show. It is really the general audience/viewers, rather than an eminent panel of judges assesses the audio-visual performance of the performer. Therefore, undoubtedly his 'good looks' also carries a weight in this type of competitions. In fact many adjudicators including Mrs. Latha Walpola who is a singer of yester era expressed the same view. It is true he has a somewhat coarser voice; still he uses it effectively with voice modulation. We must not forget that we need variations and certainly not monotonous voices with glum faces and standing like statues. There were very popular singers in the calibre of Rick Ashley and even Michael Bolton who has 'different' voices when you compared to the golden voice of gentleman Jim. Even in the local scene, singers like Rohana Baddage or Senanayake Veraliyadda have their own voices and styles and yet they are popular. It is true SMS/Telephone voting may have some disadvantages when It comes to rural sectors, where these facilities are not widely available or familiar to common folks. Still it the best available method and used in British pop Idol, American Idol and in Miss World contests. Again Sirasa TV reception is also poor in certain areas and these are certain unavoidable things in the inception of this kind of novel programme in this country. I wish the producers have more transparency in counting votes and telling the actual numbers they received. During first few rounds there were harsh criticism against three judges, still I think they have done a tremendous job. Overall, Sirasa Super Star brought out hidden talents and lot of enthusiasm among the viewers. Hats off to judges and producers and especially to Kamal Addaraarachchi as the compeer. Finally, the lady writer must have slept well that night as her villain bowed out giving a grand performance with probably his favourite song, "Mata Nidanna Be" making lot of people to cry in the audience. Of
Super Stars and Hoodwinking It is sad to watch Sirasa Television manipulating the whole contest to reach their goals or to achieve their personal ambitions through this popular programme. Their SMS joke has now risen to an intolerable level. The viewers are always wondering why Sirasa won't announce the number of SMS votes or calls collected by each individual. It was pretty obvious that they are promoting Shehan to be a Super Star for unknown seasons. He is a talented boy, good looking and a good performer too. But why on earth can Sirasa not be fair by the others. When the pressure built up against this ugly situation, Sirasa just dropped Shihan like dirt. The Sirasa authorities should know at least by now, that they can not fool all the people all the time. Even after Shehan departed, they tried hard to get him in by using Malith's accident as the God given opportunity. On the very first day he was shown on TV with minor injuries and Sirasa said that he was out of danger and would be back soon. All the other finalists were seen at the Kurunegala Hospital. But suddenly he was taken to the National Hospital Colombo and was warded at the ICU. Even Doctor Hector Weerasinghe came on TV and said that Malith had undergone an operation and needed three months to recuperate. (This looks funny to me. Why on earth should Director of the National Hospital-Colombo appear on TV to speak about a contestant, who is not a star yet) Then Sirasa announced that Malith would be given a chance, to enter the finals directly in the next 'game'. The fourth contestant would be selected from among the disqualified contestants. I had my suspicions and at this point it was confirmed. I knew they were trying to bring Shehan back again to the competition. But suddenly, on last Sunday's programme they said Malith was well enough to continue. What a cheat! What happened to Doctor Hector's statement? What happened to Malith's so called grave condition? This is hoodwinking. I think even Doctor Hector did not know what he was talking about or Sirasa managed to hoodwink him. People
are beginning to disbelieve the National Hospital authorities too. I
take my hat off to these courageous young sons of Lanka, who won't
let their friend down. They certainly overturned the dirty game
planed by Sirasa. Whither
Sirasa Superstar? Bouquets and brickbats are usual in any event of this magnitude. Whilst commending Sirasa for a job well done for exposing our hidden talent, it would have been a wise move if a complete set of rules and regulations in the form of a 'Constitution' was made in consultation with the elite musicians of Sri Lanka for the benefit of running the show without hiccups. In this manner there would not have arisen a somewhat chaotic situation to find a replacement for Malith Perera who was unfortunately injured in an accident. The freedom of expression must be upheld, as a everybody has that right, but it was unfortunate to see the like of Mrs. L. Jayasundera's verbal umbrage on Sanduni Wikremasinghe. Maybe she was living in her own dream world. We have to accept the fact that there are pros and cons in the competition, but to fish out a single individual for compliment is not in good taste. Whether we like it or not there has to be a yardstick in the elimination process and it so happens that the favorites of some are affected. Even at the moment of writing this letter I hear rumours, allegations and counter allegations but the show must go on successfully and Sirasa must be immensely congratulated for giving the Sri Lankans the treat of the first ever Reality Show. I must confess that by talking to so many people on the subject, their view is that the likes of Madhava, Waruna and Mohan are much better than some of those already qualified. In
my view the Super Star should have the ability to excel in all types
of songs, stage presentation, good looks and mainly the song selection
- the challenge to sing difficultly sung songs. In this category
there is only one person who has gone without fault by even by any
of the judges thus far. Use
your Sirasa Especially,
when the host, Kamal Addararachchie was giving out the results of
how each contestant had fared, Shihan was never kept in suspense,
but was always told straight away that he was pushed up to the next
round. If
you take into consideration, the performance by the contestants,
then in that case, Waruna Madusanka of Wattala was way ahead of
Shihan. You'll recall that one of the judges was so mesmerised by Maliths singing. She couldn't help but shed tears of happiness. Lastly I would like to say that, I mean no offense to Shihan as he is a budding star. And no one is in anyway attacking him, but merely using their freedom of expression to voice their opinion against injustice. |
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