Youth talent aplenty

When a friend asked me to watch the popular Derana Dream Star Reality Show, I wasn’t keen though I am a Sinhala music fan. He insisted I should watch since it had reached the final stages and assured me I would not be disappointed. 

I could not throw away his request – so I sat down to listen to Dream Star VIII two weeks back over internet. I must confess my friend was correct. I was not disappointed. In fact, I was amazed at the youth talent we have. 

When I listened to the program – over the internet – it had come a long way and there were only seven contestants. And they were all very good. 

Although the role of the panel of judges – Kirti Pasqual, Samitha Mudunkotuwa and Nadeeka Guruge – is to assess each one’s talent and offer them advice, their comments are helpful for the listeners, whose SMSs decide the eliminations, in making their decisions. The contestants were from all over the country and those who had got selected by then were from Matara, Pelmadulla, Inginiyagala, Ambalantota and Malabe. I was somewhat surprised that there were only two females among the seven. Just as much as both of them were very good, I am sure there would have been many more who may have not been lucky enough to survive.     Possibly young males preferred their ‘clan’ to be on top. I am in no way suggesting that the male youngsters are not as good as the females. For outstation youngsters to be so good as to eliminate the ‘city types’ where we tend to think there are better facilities (in this case to be trained as singers) is encouraging. This has been the trend over several years. As students they have the opportunity to offer music as a subject. Music teachers may be keen to offer a hand when they find talented students. And undoubtedly programmes like Dream Star give them an opportunity to show their capabilities. In fact, some of the participants are still students. The six or seven participants I have listened to were in the range of 18-27 years of age – the majority being in their early 20s. 

Another feature was the ability of some of the male youngsters to play an instrument. Standing out among them was one who played the tabla beautifully before he started on his song.

There was another who whistled the opening lines. Commenting on it at the end of the song Nadeeka Guruge wanted him to repeat the whistling while he himself joined, leading to a good clapping round by the audience. 

The judges often reacted when they were happy that the participants were so good. There were instances when they were requested to come down and meet the judges to show their appreciation. 

Derana’s decision to accommodate those who get eliminated at the final stages by selecting them for playback singing in the teledramas TV Derana channel produces is indeed praiseworthy. Those who are keen on an acting career will also be given a chance.