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| Sunday, 21 November 2004 |
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"It was unbelievable... there were thirteen competitors and we won... so I guess it's a lucky number for us" enthuses Rukshan Mark when he met us to give us the happy news - a reward for all their untiring and dedicated devotion to their music in the face of many obstacles.
"This was a competition for professionals below 30 years and the criteria demanded that you should be a winner in a previous competition - domestic or foreign. Since we were winners at Kazakhstan and China in 2002 we entered for the competition. It was really unbelievable. We had to compete with singers from Italy, USA, Malta, Ireland, Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Serbia, Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic. We were really nervous. This was altogether a different scenario. In Kazakhstan we had to compete with Asian artistes but here every other competitor was a professional. "To be honest, in Sri Lanka we haven't performed more than three times on a concert stage. So we were rather raw like in stage discipline. We realised how important timing was in foreign productions and the experience was great" expresses Rukshan who was finding it difficult to contain his joy. Quite naturally! What was the song you sang and what was your act like? "Our song was a ballad 'Tribute' which was written by Bertram Charles my duo partner. It is an emotion packed song which Bertram wrote for his parents and he wrote it at the bedside of his father who was after a heart by pass surgery. In a way we were fortunate that we selected this song because we were the only ones who sang a ballad. The others chose rock, alternative rock and dance pop. Our dress was not gimmicky or kinky. We played it straight. "Since the song was a ballad we figured a brown-coloured suit would give elegance to the songs as you can see in the picture. The jury comprised recognised musician/producers. There was Michael Jay from the US who works with Eminem, Ivan Rosster from Czech Republic, Alan Ray Scott from the States who works with Celine Dion. In fact he is writing a song for us and the good news is that he is coming to Sri Lanka to write the song with me. The guest performances were by Czech artistes, some of them sang with us at Kazakhstan. "The competition was held on Saturday November 6 with a rehearsal on the morning of the show, so it was all so different for us" concludes Rukshan. Charles Mark who launched their career in 1998 under the guidance of Diliup Gabadamudalige with a single "Wanna Hold Your Hand" which later received considerable airplay on the Sun FM Charts after a re-mix that was handled by Ranga Dassanayake. They followed it up with 'Barefooted on the Dance Floor' which peaked at No. 1 on the same charts. Participation at the Kazakhstan competition in 2002 resulted in a bronze prize for the song 'I Wanna Hold You' and Rukshan Mark's solo appearance in Shanghai, China won him the Excellent New Singer Award. What of the future? To Charles Mark there is the possibility of performing in Poland in 2005 as well as in Malta and Serbia. Congratulations to Charles Mark! |
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Charles Mark the duo made a tremendous impact with the jury to carry
off the Best Singer Award, statuette and diploma at the Gaston - Giana
Universe talent Prague 2004 - the 6th International Festival of Pop held
at the Hotel Pyramida, Prague, Czech Republic.
