Entertainment / People

The Bachelor Boy will be in town

by Mahes Perera

Sometime tomorrow Cliff Richard will be jetting into Sri Lanka, and his eagerly awaited concert will come alive on February 23. With something like 128 hits in a career that has spanned 50, years he is Britain's biggest ever hit maker.

Recently he commented that he was unaware that he had a strong fan base in Sri Lanka, because he would surely have included performing here much earlier. However, Cliff Richard fans are in for a treat because he will be singing all those songs you enjoyed while growing up, plus new hits from his latest album.

Of course, his early hits like the Young Ones, Bachelor Boy, Lucky Lips, Living Doll, Congratulations, Summer Holiday will echo to your hearts delight on February 23.

Considered the British answer to Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard burst into the music scene when rock'n' roll was still in its young stages and wasn't easily accepted in a scenario where singers like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole were holding sway. But the Bachelor Boy doggedly stuck to his style of singing and it paid off.

What followed was musical history. Song after song was released and some were hits like Living Doll, Please Don't Tease, When the Girl in Your Arms, Young Ones in the late fifties and early sixties. Today's youth generation lap up the Millennium Prayer, Miss You Nights, We Don't Talk Anymore, Goodbye Sam to name a few.

Funnily in this modern age of SMS technology when he was asked whether he knew how to use text messages on his mobile phone, he answered that it takes him ages to do a text and that he hasn't learnt the short cut words. He'd prefer to call people and talk to them on the phone.

After a concert Cliff Richard unwinds quickly. He eats the main meal of the day after the show. It means he can dine with friends and maybe members of the band to get back to normality. A self taught guitarist, Cliff Richard was taught the first three chords by his father - G.C. and 7th. But he confesses he doesn't play well, he gets by with a little help from his friends!

An optimist by nature, Cliff Richard says if a film is to be made of his life, then he would like Brad Pitt to play the role. And if he can't sing then he'll get Daniel Beddingfeld to sing for him!

The concert in Colombo at the Exhibition and Convention Centre is presented by Gold FM and DK Promotions, and is part of the Asian leg of Cliff Richard's tour which started off at Dubai Aviation Club, then he went into Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Last Sunday he had his concert in Singapore and on Friday 23 Sri Lankan music fans will welcome 'The Peter Pan of Pop.'

Sathsara finals at Moratuwa

A Talent Quest with a difference Sathsara 2007 will see the finals worked out on Saturday February 24 at the Buddhist Hall, Moratuwa from 6.00 pm onwards. According to the Organising Committee the finals are scheduled to be held on a grand scale.

The talent quest which is for performance on the harmonium, the violin, flute and tabla will be judged by Kalasuri Mahanama Wickremasinghe, Kalasuri Neela Wickremasinghe and Kolitha Bhanuka Dissanayake. The Chief Guest is Victor Ratnayake. Twenty five finalists from ten different schools will vie for the cash prizes.

The semi finalists were awarded certificates by the Moratuwa Arts Forum. A lot of hard work has been put in by the Co-chairman of this project Asoka Peiris and Lankika Perera as well as the Secretary Surani Fernando.

Others in this MAF Committee are Bertie Dickson Fernando, Erington Perera, Herbert Silva, Taranga de Alwis and Sankalpa Fernando.

MP.

Short Film Competition

At a time when the Sri Lankan cinema industry is celebrating its 60th anniversary, Bonjour Cinema 2007 will give an opportunity to young Sri Lankan directors to participate in a high calibre Short Film Competition to thrive the horizons in the Sri Lankan and the international film industries.

This competition for young, up-coming, talented Sri Lankan film directors will not only enrich the cultural ties between Sri Lanka and the Francophany world but also create a promising future to the Sri Lankan film industry.

The short films will be selected by a jury comprising Sri Lankan and Foreign specialists in the industry and the five winning films will be screened each day of the film festival.

The best film will receive an award. The closing date for the competition is February 23 and application forms can be got from the Embassy of France. The film should be in a duration of ten to twenty minutes and the dialogue in Sinhala or Tamil with subtitles in English.

The film has to be on a DVD format and no special themes are specified by the organisers.