Ranaviru Real Star Mission 2 commences

Mission 1 was a record-breaker, mission two promises more; Ranaviru Real Star, one of the most watched reality shows in Sri Lanka highlighting the hidden talents of our armed forces personnel, commenced operations with the highly-anticipated Mission 2.

Ranaviru Real Star was developed on a concept given by Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and is organised by the Ministry of Defence, together with event partner Dialog, Sri Lanka’s largest mobile service provider with over seven million subscribers.

The highly-successful Mission 1 of Ranaviru Real Star received the highest number of SMS for a reality show final. This time around too the preliminary rounds are being recorded live and telecast on Sri Lanka Rupavahini with the backdrop for the episodes being locations with a military association, while the grand final would be aired live on the same channel.

“The Ranaviru Real Star reality show opened the stage for our war heroes to bring to light their aesthetic talents that were hidden during the war. Ranaviru Real Star Mission 1 was the brainchild of Secretary of the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development Gotabaya Rajapaksa to telecast the hidden talents of the three forces’ war heroes,” Lakshman Hulugalle, Director General of the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said.

“I would like to thank Dialog Axiata’s generous gesture for sponsoring this grand event and national television channel Rupavahini for stepping in as the official media partner. Ranaviru Real Star Mission 1 opened the stage for glittering starts to be born from our war heroes, while Mission 2 promises much more for the viewing public. I wish the mission all success.”

Over the past year Ranaviru Real Star has established itself as one of the most popular reality shows in Sri Lanka, according to television ratings carried out by LMRB. The first round of Ranaviru Real Star Mission 2 commenced telecast on Rupavahini on 21 October at 9 p.m. The grand finale is expected to be held in May 2012.

“Partnering with Ranaviru Real Star for the second year running is an honour and privilege for Dialog,” Nushad Perera, Group Chief Marketing Officer at Dialog Axiata said. “The realisation of hidden talents of our heroes from the forces is a worthy cause and partnering with this event has been ultimately satisfying for us as a Sri Lankan corporate entity.”

Last year Mission 1 attracted over 20,000 applications, of which 2,000 were shortlisted to enter the preliminary rounds. Mission 2 has shortlisted 6,000 applications from 30,000 entries. By the second round the number of participants would be eliminated to 500, which will further reduce to 24 on the fifth round, just ahead of the commencement of the knockout stage.

The panel of judges which comprises of eminent personalities involved in the music industry in Sri Lanka will have a direct say in 60 per cent of the outcome, while the rest of the outcome will be decided by the public via SMS.

The winner of Ranaviru Real Star Mission 2 would be the proud recipient of a house worth Rs. 15 million, while the runner up would receive a car worth Rs. 2 million. The third place winner would receive a cash price of Rs. 1 million, with fourth and fifth placements walking away with Rs. 500,000 each.

Only servicemen and servicewomen who have completed two years of active service in the tri armed forces are eligible for Mission 2 of Ranaviru Real Star.