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| Sunday, 18 May 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Mignonne - the pioneer of home-grown western pop by Bryan Nicholas She's got one of the best known faces, and most heard voices in 'show business' in Sri Lanka and a bubbling personality. She's one of the most outstanding singers of our times whose credits read like an encyclopedic print-out of the major musical industry.
What's more, she is easily among the first few on the list of career women. She's a singer, composes and writes her own stuff and is an all-rounder in the field of music and showbiz! If you forget her name hum "Mangala Mohotha" (or popularly called 'Kedella Ethi Woo Kirilli Wage') and it's bound to trigger anyone's memory. That's right - I am talking of none other than Mignonne Fernando. Everybody in Sri Lanka knows Mignonne. She burst on to the showbiz scene in Sri Lanka in 1963. It was the era of "The Shadows" and guitar music was just making a quiet debut in the world of music and "pop" was becoming an increasingly common word in the vocabulary of music. She excelled at school, St. Bridget's Convent, in every subject and decided to become a Barrister. She wrote music from the age of six using words of Charles Lamb as lyrics. She won Talent Contests from the age of seven and finally gave up the idea of a Degree in Law to devote all energy, ability and time to music. It all started when she formed her own group with a handful of buddies. It was also the time Tony Fernando was getting together his group - The Jetliners. Was it surprising that the two best shows in town teamed up? In this case forever. By 1966 she was the 'toast' of Colombo and led a swinging, vibrating audience every Saturday night at the Coconut Grove, Galle Face Hotel. Imagine the impact she made that young and old hustled, fought and shrieked to get near her during those 250 consecutive weekly performances. The late Dudley Senanayake, then Prime Minister, was chief guest at a show in aid of charity at the Coconut Grove in 1967, with Mignonne and the Jetliners providing the music. However, none would leave at the end of the show, they wanted more music and Mignonne played on. An encore in those early days was usually "Michael Row The Boat Ashore, Alleluia". Her academic qualifications on the music scene will surprise you. Today a pop star is usually one who has gained publicity and fans on the strength of gimmicks. Popularly known as "Miss Music", Mignonne Fernando has won the All Island School's Public Speaking Contest, holds Degrees in Speech and Drama (LTCL London) and Music (ATCL-Trinity College of London) and was voted "Best Female Vocalist" in a 'Ceylon Observer Pop Poll Contest' in 1969, and "Most Outstanding Female Vocalist' in a Pop Poll Contest conducted by the 'Daily Mirror'. Since then she has stayed on the top and her band of music makers has become a national institution in our little island, for the simple reason that she was a pioneer of Western "pop" music in Sri Lanka. Mignonne credits her success to husband, Tony. He and Mignonne have been inseparables (until his untimely death last year) and their family of three children is beautiful and unspoilt. Intact though the Fernando family is today, the Jetliners are not made up of the same faces as in 1966 as they have had many changes in the line-up since the group first began. Mignonne's successful debut in Song Festivals abroad was just the beginning: awards were showered on her from festival to festival and she hit the international world of entertainment singing her way through India, Singapore, Greece, Poland, Yugoslavia, Thailand, Honolulu, the Philippines and Hongkong. Mignonne says she would love to promote young musicians. "Maybe have a whole concert of material written and composed by young people". And here's some advice to young composers and song writers from our 'leading lady of song' - "it is essential to be able to read and write music and don't be afraid to include eastern music like ragaes when writing western music. It is also essential to cultivate originality". Mignonne and the Jetliners completed 18 years at the Regent Hotel in Hongkong, which, incidentally, was voted the 'Best Hotel in the World' in 1991 and 1992 by the Institutional Investor and Business Traveller. She has had four Governors of Hongkong dancing to her music. Besides her own publicity Mignonne's goal is to get publicity for Sri Lanka too by putting it on the musical map. As she puts it, "despite having travelled far and wide for the several years that I have been involved in music, I haven't changed at all. I will always be Sri Lankan at heart and through my music tell the world about our Paradise Island". |
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