Song and dance: Song and dance

Associates of Brandix put on a sparkling exhibition of live singing and dancing evocative of the scale and grandeur of reality television talent shows recently, when Sri Lanka’s top exporter conducted the finals of its annual talent search encompassing the Group’s factories in Sri Lanka.

The Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium throbbed to the beat of pulsating music and roar of 5,000 enthusiastic fans as finalists at the singing and dancing competitions vied for the titles of Brandix Gee Tharuwa (Brandix Singing Star) and Brandix Narthana Tharu (Brandix Dancing Stars) respectively.

One of the highlights of the Rasadiya Mangalya (Mercury Festival) organized by Brandix every year, the two competitions saw six troupes of dancers shortlisted from the 15 teams that competed in the preliminary rounds performing at the final of the dancing competition, while the four best singers chosen from 300 who entered the singing contest sang for the title of Gee Tharuwa.

When the inspiring performances came to an end, the Brandix Rasadiya Narthana Tharu title was won by the dance troupe of Brandix Fast Fashion 1, Avissawella, which beat the dancers of Brandix Essentials Koggala and Brandix Essentials Batticaloa, who were adjudged first and second runners up, respectively.

The coveted title of Brandix Rasadiya Gee Tharuwa for 2016 was won by Hashan Darshana of the Brandix Green Plant, Seeduwa, while the runners up were Chaminda Pushpakumara of Textured Jersey Lanka PLC Avissawella, Sashi Mekala of Brandix Essentials Koggala and Dinesh Nalaka of Brandix Fast Fashion 1, Mirigama.

As in previous years, the finals of the two competitions were judged by professional artistes of repute. The judges for the Brandix Rasadiya Gee Tharuwa final were Nirosha Virajini, Keerthi Pasqual and Dumal Warnakulasooriya, while the judges for the Narthana Tharu final were Kevin Nugara, Rajini Selvanayagam, Pradeepa Ariyawansa and Hemal Ranasinghe.

The highest employment provider in Sri Lanka’s export sector, according to the Export Development Board, Brandix employs more than 48,000 people in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. The Group won 11 awards at the Presidential Export Awards earlier this month, and was ranked Sri Lanka’s most valuable export brand in Brand Finance’s 2016 ranking of the country’s leading brands. Brandix is the pioneer of the concept of ‘total solutions’ in Sri Lanka’s apparel sector and is a preferred supplier to some of the top retail brands in the US and Europe.