 
Nilma Dole
Panorama got an exclusive interview with the chairman of the music
company World Music Entertainment (WME), Malinda Perera who spoke about
their new radical concept of a rock band competition titled ‘Revolution’
to be held tonight at the Bishop’s College Auditorium. Here are extracts
from the interview:
Q: What is WME and what are its aims?
Malinda: WME is World Music Entertainment which was inaugurated in
February aiming to entertain people in unique ways. Our motto is “We
entertain your soul” which we hope to prove through our concerts, TV
shows, magazines and other aspects pertaining to it. The company is
headed by myself and executive director Nikhila Ranasinghe.
Q: What was your first project?
MP: The maiden project is the on-going one - the WME Rock
Championship which is our first show titled the “Battle of the bands -
Revolution”. Every weekend we host `battles’ in major cities giving
unknown talent to showcase what they really got. This is a unique
competition consisting of head banging, back stabbing, evil and action
packed live concert series in a friendly manner.
Q: We have seen many band competitions before but what’s unique about
this one?
MP:First of all, the winner signs a contract with us and then signs
an autograph followed by a merchandise sales tour, which is a first in
Sri Lanka. Secondly, you just have to be there to witness the rage these
bands have against each other because anything can happen at the WME.
Q: Why did you think of hosting a show like this?
Nalika Ranasinghe: We know that there are only a few live events
these days and at a time when overnight open air concerts are almost
impossible to organize, we thought of organising indoor concerts with a
difference. The winners of this battle have to defend their title on the
following month in order to retain it. They have to prove to the
audience that they are worthy of carrying the precious WME Rock
Championship title.
Q: Sounds interesting. Tell me more about your show.
NR: So I’m sure our chairman’s appearance at the show and his actions
are going to make a huge difference. So it’s a must-watch gig which is
the first of its kind.
Q: Any message you would like to give our Panorama readers?
MP: We’re hosting the gig tonight at the Bishop’s College Auditorium
to witness four rock bands battling their way to the top encompassing
‘1234’, ‘ROK-Salt’, ‘Riddle Machine’ and ‘Flyover’.
The winner will be decided by the audience through voting by way of
filling in the coupon attached to the ticket. As for the bands, my
message is that I think you guys will have to do more than what you have
ever done to stay on my show or else it’s the end of the line for you.
Ha Ha! |
