Umariya for Beijing contest
by Mahes Perera
Nineteen-year-old singer Umariya
Sinhawansa is excited over her first trip to Beijing to take part in the
11th Asia New Singer Competition. “I’ll be singing two songs. The first
is a cover version of Beyonce’ song ‘Listen’ from the movie Dream Girl
and the other is an original of mine titled ‘My Dreams.’ I hope with
that song my dreams for success will be a reality!” Umariya exclaims
with exuberance.
 Umariya is the younger of the singing sisters Umara and Umariya,
daughters of the acclaimed duo in our music scene Tony and Ayesha
Sinhawansa, and both parents are extremely supportive of their
daughters’ music careers.
The 11th Asia New Singer Competition in China will be held in Beijing
from April 28 to May 6, and the Sri Lankan competitors will be taking
part under the auspices of the Arushisri Art Theatre and its artistic
director Arunthathy Sri Renganathan. Arunthathy has always, as a
crusader in her work with art and culture, endeavoured to build bridges
between human beings of different ethnic, religious and national origin.
“This year apart from Umariya, I have included a group of singers.
They are four in number and they are Kanishka Athulathmudali, Shasthri
Herath Lintha Kumburuge, Nuwan Herath Lintha Kumburuge and Sandul Ranga
Athulathmudali.
The performers will be short listed to 15 competitors and at this
stage they will be performing with a Chinese Orchestra. The Sri Lankan
participants will be leaving on Tuesday April 27 and I wish all of them
success and hope they will come back with the Trophies,” voices
Arunthathy.
The first time I heard Umariya and her older sister Umara was at a
multi cultural concert titled Harmony organised by Arunthathy Sri
Renganathan in October 2005. Their singing style was unique and blended
impressively with the folk, blues and fusion, they sang. Like her sister
Umara, the emotional intensity of Umariya’s voice and the astonishing
range of sound pushed the music into another dimension. I was stunned by
the maturity of her performance.
Who would you say were your big influences, Umariya?
“My parents definitely. I learned a lot from them. Also I’d like to
mention Whitney Houston, Beyonce, and Destiny’s Child in the modern
style while from the earlier singers I was impressed by the Carpenters’
singing style and Englebert Humperdinck. We sing with Bathiya ‘n
Santhush but my sister and I we do duo acts at corporate events. I’m
used to performing with Umara, we sang together when we were in
Switzerland and Germany with our parents. Umara then was 14 years and I
was just 11 years old,” Umariya answers with a lot of confidence.
She has an indefinable magical aura both as person and as a performer
and Umariya’s singing style is a special talent so special that the
audience is mesmerised and quiet during her performance. We hope that
the panel of judges in Beijing will be swept off their feet and Umariya
returns home with the coveted Trophy.
Make musical love with Martina
By the time this magazine goes to print, DJ Martina Kaiser would have
rocked and shocked party-goers in Sri Lanka with her heart-racing
soul-pumping sounds of sweetness, so we just had to dedicate a page to
her! Martina is an amazing mix of European beauty, brains and musical
talent who has toured the world as a DJ, being influential and very
beautiful.
 Martina Kaiser was born in a small town called “Scheibbs” in Lower
Austria and moved to Vienna after her matura (higher education entrance
qualification). She kicked off her career working for 10 years as a
radio DJane at ORF/Hitradio OE3 and a television presenter for the
Austrian Top 40 on the ORF1 channel. She also was the singer for the
synthpopband Philomenas Garden under the Warner music label. Martina was
even nominated for the Austrian tv-award ‘Romy’ as the most favourite
show master and chosen as the ‘sexiest lady on screen’.
Talking about how she got into DJing, she said “I also had my own
music projects as a singer and songwriter, so performing and music were
always a part of my life. I must admit that I always thought that being
a DJ is one of the coolest jobs in the world!” Martina then joined
‘Evolution Entertainment’, one of the most important agencies for female
DJs.
This merger gave her the opportunity to start a sensational
international DJ career she performed in 25 different countries all over
the world! Today, the gorgeous lady even gave Sri Lanka a dose! She
said, “I always loved pop music since I was little and liked to sing
songs which I heard on the radio. My biggest musical influence is
Depeche Mode.”
Martina has musical connections ranging from electro-house to even
R&B and her track “I love the music” was even released on the world
famous Ibiza-compilation ‘In bed with space’. She has also teamed up
with New Yorker rapper Chyke David Jones and FM Habla (Carouge music) to
produce the CD ‘onenightstand’ including the cheeky German electro-pop
title ‘Total verrckt’. In 2008, she appeared on the MAXIM magazine in
their ‘Hottest DJames Shooting’ photo shoot.
Talking about being a respected female DJ in a bad boy world, Martina
said, “To be honest I don’t care if I’m labelled as DJ or ‘Female DJ’, I
also like the expressions ‘DJane’ or ‘DJette’ but of course we ‘Female
DJs’ have many benefits compared to our male colleagues: we look better,
have better musical taste and we mix better because we don’t drink so
much!” She also spoke about how many women are getting into DJing: “The
world is full of female DJs now and it’s not only about perfect looks or
skills, you have to be unique in a certain way to shine. In the long run
only female DJs with personality, style and their own hit productions
will succeed”. Further she added, “For me being only a DJ is too little.
I see myself more as an artiste, producing my own tracks and
performing them live and also providing inspiration for other musicians
too”. Martina’s new track “Seduce Me” has uplifting remixes from Richard
Grey, Callea, Roxmaker and Luca Lento.
The lovely sounds of Martina Kaiser melted Mount Lavinia at the Beach
house together with Brian Andree, Kaz and the Saint, presented by BK
productions and Kiss FM.
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