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| Sunday, 23 May 2004 |
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Judy de Silva : Singing from the soul by Lakmal Welabada
Her maternal greatgrandfather Daniel de Silva sang both in English and Sinhala for the 78rmp Gramophone records for HMV (His Master's Voice) in 1931 and 1932. Both her maternal grandparents Edgar and Evelyn de Silva were also Radio Ceylon vocalists. Famous baila singer Volley Bastian was the first cousin of her grandfather. Judy is the only child to her musician parents Kanthi and Chesley. "Hence my craze for music is in my genes," she laughed. Judy has been composing songs both in English and Sinhala since she was in school. Her singing talent has also been recognised with awards from time to time. Judy won the Most Promising Artiste Award in the Island Music Awards in 1987. And from the same event held in 1989 she won the Outstanding Female Vocalist Award. Judy won a Golden Clef Award conducted by the Sunday Observer in 1993. Judy was educated at Musaeus College, Colombo. "When I was schooling I had three friends, Masha, Hasanthi and Manil, with whom I used to write and sing songs, play music and do all the crazy things under the sky," she laughed. Judy had her voice training under Kalasoori Lylie Godridge. Her first song on stage was 'Day by day', which she sang at age 9 at 'Jazz Unlimited's monthly session. One of her earliest and most embarrassing moments on stage also relates to 'Jazz Unlimited'... At one of their monthly gatherings a seven year old girl who used to come along with her musician mum was getting ready to make her musical debut. When her name was announced, the little girl sat before the electric piano to play 'Take five'. Since she had been practising on a normal piano at home, the hard notes of the electric keyboard hurt her little fingers. Once, twice and thrice; she misplayed the tune. She turned back to look at her mum. "Never mind, Go on, Go on," mummy was encouraging her with all the possible gestures. At the end the amused audience applauded. She bowed with tight lips suppressing her tears. For little Judy it was a tragedy that took her mum a long while to help her get over. "My first professional performance was with Debbie Arnolda at Grand Hotel, Nuwara Eliya. I was 17 years then. Debbie's father, Bobbie Arnolda was my first Manager who played a big role in my career by guiding and teaching me all the things that a stage performer should keep in mind. Having a talent to sing is not the only thing. Your presentation should be able to attract, capture and hold the attention of the audience throughout," said Judy. 'Smooth operator', Careless whispers', 'Self control' and 'Last night the DJ saved my life' were among her favourite hits. "Whether young or old, our fans still love oldies," she says. 'Upeca - 4', 'Harold Seneviratne Combo' and 'Sohan and the Experiments' were among the groups Judy worked with from time to time. 'Judy with Eternal Soul' was the group Judy formed herself. In 1998 Judy left the country at a time in her life that was full of stress. Her four month getaway in the UK proved to be a blessing in disguise as she started getting offers for shows abroad. She has, as a result, sung in Japan, Cyprus, Dubai, Oman and India. "Every dark cloud bears a silver lining," she recalls. Acting is her other talent. The photogenic singer became an actress with the main role in her 'Sura Daruwo' directed and produced by Cyril Weerasinghe in 1994. And in 1996, Judy won the Best New Actress Award for her debut in a film at the Sarasaviya Films Festival. Dharmasena Pathiraja's film 'Wasuli' (whirlpool) and a few tele dramas like Ranjan de Silva's 'Udagira' (the dawn in the east), Kumarasiri Abeykoon's 'Viyaru Prarthana' (the devilish wish) and Mark Samaranayaka's 'Ilakkaya' (the aim) were among her other acting performances. An ardent animal lover, Judy's spare time is spent feeding and taking care of stray cats and dogs. One of her cats was resting on her lap and listening to our conversation right throughout. "It's true that glamour is my life since I'm a singer by profession. But, Buddhism is my philosophy. I have no time to go to the temple and attend the religious rites. But, I could keep my heart and mind straight since I have no evil thoughts on anybody nor anything," she says. |
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After a busy period of travel for nearly five years, Judy de Silva has
been back in the Sri Lankan entertainment scene since November. Judy's
love affair with music goes right back to her baby days, when her mother
taught her how to draw a treble clef on the five lines in the music note
book. Coming from a musical family, this is not surprising.
