Entertainment

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Twelve lucky finalists

Observer Fashion Designer of the Year 2007 presented by Chula Nanayakkara

The Fashion Designer of the Year Contest which is organised by Chula Nanayakkara is on again. The response from the fashion enthusiasts is impressive as entry forms kept coming in till the eleventh hour. However, its semifinals was held on September 19, 2007 at the Cinema Lounge of the BMICH where hundreds of youth showed off their immaculate designs.

Anne Fernando	Nuwan Perera	Dulakshi Jayasekera	Shashi Rathnayake
Anne Lambert	Amarsha de Silva	Ashani Madola	Buddhika Samarakoon
Himali Delapala	Nina Amerasinghe	Subashini Wickramaratne	Wayomi Ranasinghe
Pix - Sudath Nishantha

Over eighty youngsters from all over Sri Lanka handed in their entries. Most of them were school goers and the rest included bridal dressers, and fashion designing students who actually got a break to talk about their work in detail.

The colour combinations were quite striking as they matched well with the fashionable ensemble of designs.The lot was judged by a panel of seven judges including Keerthi Sri Karunaratne (Chairman), Rozelle Plunkett, Suraj Mapa, Rohan Sirisena, Chamikara Weerasinghe, Umangi de Mel and Samith Hewawasam.

Presenting the show for the fourth consecutive year, Chula says that the standards of the contestants this year seem much better than last years. Working hard to make the show a success, she's the busiest person around.

A highlight of the semi-finals was the eleven-year-old Twinkle Goonatilleke whose works stood out considering her age. Commenting on her skills, Keerthi Sri says that it's good quality and very creative for her age.

A student at Visaka Vidyalaya, Twinkle will get a special award at the finals in recognition of her creativity.The twelve finalists are Shashi Ratnayake, Nina Amarasinghe, Dulakshi Jayasekara, Anne Lambert, Anne Jayathilaka Fernando, Himali Delapala, Amarsha de Silva, Subashini Wickramaratne, Nuwan Perera, Ashani Madola, Buddhika Samarakoon and Wayomi Ranasinghe.

The tickets for the show can be purchased via the internet, as well where the public can avail themselves of a discount, "log on to www.etickets.lk to purchase your ticket early. The key word is convenience," says Rohan Sirisena, General Manager of Ceylinco internet services.

Also, the general public will get to vote for the twelve finalists using the coupon that will be carried in the Sunday Observer.

The finalist who gets the most number of votes will be given points and will be crowned as the Sunday Observer Designer of the Year and the points earned by the others, will be added to the final result at the show on November 3, 2007 at BMICH.

Distinctive music

by Mahes Perera

In a music scene that is sizzling with hip-hop, rock and fusion the six piece outfit Pearl have steadfastly stuck to their guns so to speak playing distinctive dance music that is the hallmark of their performance.

Speaking with the leader Jayantha de Silva - keyboardist and vocalist, he expressed the opinion that he has always maintained the popularity of his band by playing a wide repertoire of dance music that appeals to both young and old - away from the world of crashing guitars and the hip-hop beat. "It has paid off for us.

So much so our work schedule from now on is packed with dances and weddings. On the cards for us are the Thomian Dance, the Otters Club Dance, the SriLankan Airlines Engineer dance, Aitken Spence Dance, St. Anthony's College Dance to name a few," comments Jayantha. Playing weekly on Fridays at the Hilton Colombo, Pearl will be the major attraction at Blast Thru the New Year's Eve Dance at Holiday Inn. Prospects seem to be good for musicians.

A great deal of variety in music is provided by Pearl. Hits from the 50s to the 90s as well as contemporary ballads and top 40 hits are given a Pearl treatment by the members.

As the leader Jayantha is responsible for most of the arrangements handles keyboards and vocals.

Victorine his wife plucks a swinging bass, Tony Ferdinandez the guitarist moves in with the vocals of evergreens and swinging ballads of yesteryear. The female glitz Jackie de Silva is versatile singer of pop hits of today.

The group enjoys added advantage in that their members are multi-instrumentalists especially Lalith Perera the vocalist. Giving the thrust to the dance band is the drummer/vocalist Ransiri Pieris who enjoys himself beating out the rhythms of the music, much to the delight of the members of the band.

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World Children's Day celebrations

Pini Poda Wessak:

"Pini Poda Wessak", a tele drama musical show will be held on September 29 at 3.30 pm and 6.30 pm at the Maradana Elphinston Theatre to celebrate the World Children's Day which falls on October 01.

All the songs for the events are from the tele dramas "Danga Malla" and "Anne" directed by Nalaka Swarnathilake. "Danga Malla" was telecast thrice on the Swarnavahini and "Anne" is being telecast these days every Sunday at 8.30 pm.

Natasha Perera, Dinithi Doranegoda, Vinuri Ramanayake, Piumi Gamage and over 30 children will sing at the show. Songs lyrics are by Amitha Rabbidigala, Nuwan Katugampola and Ashoka Piyarathna while the music is composed by Nuwan Withanage.