Searching for talent

Salma Yusuf catches up with Interactors getting ready for the ‘Interact Grammys’

It's that time of the year again. ‘To create an opportunity for talent to unveil itself’– the vision of the annual talent search contest is in the pipeline.

Talent Search is not just any show put on for the sake of entertainment. Rather, it is a platform that serves as a stepping stone for the youth of the country to further and develop their talents. With this goal of developing and nurturing talent among the youth of Sri Lanka, the aim was to make Talent Search a project that was second to none. A show that will be talked of for months or even for years to come as the event that produced a multitude of great people in the field of the arts.

Among the show’s objectives is the need to develop the musical talents of the youth in Sri Lanka to provide them with an opportunity to display their talents and foster harmony and co-existence among the multi-ethnic people in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka being a goldmine of talent provides an ideal forum where all interactors and non-interactors island-wide participate and display talent which has not yet been explored.

The increasing number of participants over the past years have proved the need for such an event for youth in a developing country, unlike in developed countries where children get opportunities early on and hence develop professionally at a much younger age.

Talent Search which was initiated by the Interact Club of Royal College, has been an annual project for the past eleven years. The Interact Clubs of Visakha Vidyalaya, St. Bridget’s Convent and Muslim Ladies’ College have been a part of this project throughout the years. In 2001 non-interactors participated for the first time – a development which has undoubtedly given the necessary opportunity and encouragement to students of schools without Interact Clubs to display their talents at such a popular event.

The inception of the Kandy semi-final has provided the outstation youngsters with an opportunity to participate in this event as well. It was a landmark in the history of the show since youngsters were not deprived of showing-off their talents due to geographical barriers, while outstation participants have the option of taking part at either of the semi-finals, in Kandy or Colombo.

Talent Search, over the years, has been the most looked-forward-to musical event in the Interact Calendar of District 3220 and has become the most popular talent competition among the Sri Lankan youth. It has lived up to expectations in bringing out electrifying performances by artistes such as Bathiya and Santhush, Ranidu Lankage, Ashanthi, Silent Project and SiriBora to name a few.

In the past the event was held at the Navarangahala hall or the BMICH and has always been a sell-out event. The success of this project was further proven when it won the award for the 'Best Finance Project of the Year' at the recently concluded Interact Assembly. Talent Search also known as the 'Interact Grammys’ went on stage for the eleventh successive time in November 2005. For the first time, the project was organised solely by Royal College.

Contestants are set to be judged according to seven different categories, namely, Solo Singing, Group Singing, Eastern Dance, Western Dance, Instrumental, Rap and Band. The Kandy semi-final is to be held on September 30, 2006 at the Main Hall of Trinity College, Kandy, and the Colombo semi-final will be held on October 7 and 8, 2006 at the Main Hall of Royal College, Colombo. The finals of the Talent Search contest is set for October 26, 2006 at the BMICH.

All participants should be under 20 years of age. Registration for the semi-finals could be done by emailing your application to talent.search@hotmail.com or by contacting the following Entertainment Co-ordinators: Laknath Gunatilake – 2532560/ 077 6633123, Shehan Arangala – 2728441/ 0777 198007, Darshana Kuruppu – 2554857/ 077 9627009

Spot registration will also be allowed on the days of the semi-finals from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.

The principal sponsor for the event is Pepsi. The print media sponsor for the event is The Sunday Times while the electronic media sponsors for the event are Channel One MTV and YES FM.