Mirror Magazine - The quest is on

They are excited and they are impatient. Come July 8 these three youngsters will right-‘Royally’ rock you at the Race Course Grounds, Colombo.

Royal Rocks! – also known as Blue and Gold 2006, is a major carnival and music festival organised by Royal College, and is scheduled to be held from July 7 to July 9. The highlight of the event will be Pop Quest, where three talented youngsters will get to perform on the second day of the event.

On Saturday night, the rhythm will be more R‘n’B, with Pop Night, featuring Bathiya and Santhush, with the pop duo’s Neththara show, and will be a blend of tribal and ethnic fusion music. These three participants, who have been chosen as finalists, the preliminaries being over, will be able to incorporate their performances into the Neththara concert performed by Bathiya and Santhush.

Eighteen-year-old Sh-eranga Perera has just completed her A/Level examination at St. Bridget’s Convent. For her, this show means business, as she aspires to take on music as her career path now that her A/Levels are over. “I have been singing practically all my life,” she says. She has been choir leader in school, and has also acquired professional training, by completing graded examinations leading up to the diploma level. This young talent is an Associate of Trinity College, London (Singing), having won the all-island award in two examinations including the Performer’s Certificate in Singing. She makes special mention of her teacher Ruwani Seimon, without whom she believes she couldn’t have come this far.

Sheranga has also taken part in several school singing competitions and emerged the winner at last year’s ‘Synchronise’ competition held at school. She was also the choir leader for last year’s school concert ‘Musically Yours,’ where she managed a choir of about 70 kids, which she adds was “quite an experience!” “I want to take up singing as my career and I hope to release a CD this year,” says Sheranga, who is more into jazz and soul, rather than hip-hop.

Kavinda Hewage, also 19 years of age has just completed his A/Levels. A student of Royal College, Colombo, he has taken part in the concert ‘Saga’ for the last two years since its inception.

While hoping to complete the Visharada examinations and the one leading up to it, he does not wish to take up singing as a career. For him it’s a hobby. Being a student of the physical sciences, he hopes to pursue a career in engineering.

This young talent is self-taught. He has learnt by reading and listening to music, and practicing by himself. Excited about the upcoming performanc, he says, “I can’t wait to perform for such a huge crowd. I anticipate that my performance will assume a life of its own.”

Though shy and quiet, this lad tells us that he is a romantic. Ideal personality for an artist, perhaps?

The youngest of the three finalists is 15-year-old Nuwan Perera. Studying for his O/Levels at St. Joseph’s College, Colombo, he used to sing for the school choir since he was little, but this will be his first competition. “It’s going to be a really cool experience. It is going to be hard, because the competition is very high. Singing with B&S is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we have learnt a lot from it.”

This lad is also a student of Ruwani Seimon, and has completed vocal examinations up to grade six. Having taken part in Royal College’s Talent Search last year, Nuwan was noted for his potential.

Nuwan also hopes to take up a career in singing, the exact course of which he will decide after his O/Level examination. “Music is in the blood,” he says, his brother being Charith Perera of the band Burnout, who won the award for Best Original, for TNL Onstage 2005.

From speaking to the three youngsters, it is obvious that they have enjoyed and learnt much from their association with Bathiya and Santhush. “They have fine-tuned, polished up our performances, and corrected our errors. We have come to realise how this public performance is going to be a totally new ball game compared to our previous experiences.” An open-air performance requires songs more upbeat rather than slow, and this has been strongly emphasised to the finalists by B&S. Playing to the crowd who will want to move to the music, this experience they admit has given them a taste of what Showbiz must really be like!

“They told us to think out of the box, and be radical in our approach, so that our true potential will come through,” they say. “Ours is a challenge,” they continue, “We have to play to the crowd and provide entertainment, while not forgetting that it is a competition with the need to maintain high standards of performance and professionalism, especially since we are performing with the likes of Bathiya and Santhush.”

The energy and passion in these three youngsters is electrifying. Their statements prove it all. “We would love for all our friends to come cheer us and enjoy the performance,” says Nuwan; “We will beat it till it cracks,” says Kavinda; “We are hoping to blow the crowd away,” says Sheranga.