Sweet voices of Lanka
Ishara JAYAWARDANE
Music has an effect upon the human psyche. That is an accepted fact.
When American Idol first came out with Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and
Simon Cowell, the effect was almost instantaneous.
 The public went mad over it. It was something novel and something
unique and for that Sri Lanka owes them a big “Thank you” for
introducing a concept that has pretty much taken the world by storm.
Actually the inspiration for the reality shows in Sri Lanka has been
derived from the West. Shows like Survivor and American Idol provided
the basis for what we have now.
When the media were offered the floor by SLBC Chairman Hudson
Samarasinghe there was a stark silence. That was last Monday at the
premises of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. In fact there was
little to question or clarify. Tharu Atharata Tharuwak was built up from
the start as something novel in the history of Sri Lanka. But one
question in the mind of this journalist was: is this really something
new under the sun? Or is this just an extension? An expansion?
The objective of Tharu Atharata Tharuwak is to give an opportunity
for professionals who have talent singing. This competition commenced in
July 2011 and will end in November. The applications were opened in July
and within a matter of weeks the applications received exceeded 5,000.
Out of that 1,500 were called for preliminary voice testing. Out of that
number 85 were selected for further recording of their voices.
From that number, 45 persons were called for the voice recordings and
those songs were broadcasted over City FM services. After listening to
those songs the most eligible singers were selected by a selection board
which included a panel of professional singers. The panel of judges in
the first round included lecturers of the Aesthetic Institute such as
Mahanama Wickremesinghe, Saman Panapitiya and Rashmi Sangeetha.
The songs of the first round singers began broadcasting from
September 1. The songs of the second round will commence by mid
September. The final competition will be a live event.
“When I assumed duties at SLBC I realised that singing and music is
an important medium to revive Sri Lankan heritage. I also realized that
we have to support a second generation of singers. The first generation
had some giants. But to continue that tradition we need to think of
second generation singers. You may have a beautiful song but you have to
understand there is a long process behind it,” said Hudson Samarasinghe.
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