John Keells Talent Night 2013

Sri Lanka’s premier blue chip conglomerate John Keells Holdings provided a platform for Business Units within the group to showcase their aptitudes, bringing talent and teams together for the JK Talent Night 2013. The event, organised by a team from The Managers’ Forum aimed at providing employees of JK Business Units the opportunity to shine and celebrate their talents, so as to enable personal growth as well as move one step closer to stardom.

The finals, held on 25 March at Cinnamon Grand’s Oak Room, saw 73 contestants, totalling 23 acts, battling it out to win the prestigious title of ‘JK Idol’ and the top category awards for dancing, singing and drama. The esteemed Idol award was won by Cinnamon Grand’s talented drama team, who also won the drama category, with their thought-provoking drama titled ‘A Day’. They used the stage as a platform to make an entertaining and potent social commentary on contemporary reality. Though engaging in diverse job roles, the team, comprising J.M.C. Sukumal Fernando, H.M. Ariyawanse, M.K. Maduranga, P.N. Wijewardena, Nushan Indeewara and R.C.P. Christopher, united in pursuing a common passion for drama.

The Singing category was won by the multi-talented Ruvindra Charith Bandara Angunawela from Cinnamon Lodge, Habarana who performed his rendition of ‘Kal Ha Na Ho,’ a beautiful melody composed by award winning music composer Shankar-Eshaan-Loy. He sang while playing the guitar and the flute, showcasing an impressive and diverse musical aptitude.

Ranella Jayasuriya and Carl De Zilva from Jay Kay Marketing Services walked away winners of the Dance category with their bringing together of two genres of dance, portraying the elegant movements of ballet fused with a dynamic hip hop routine. All category winners were awarded a trophy along with a cash prize of Rs. 100,000.

Runners up for the night were Sabesan and Anura from Jay Kay Marketing Services (Drama), Madarasinghe Arachchige Pradeep from Chaaya Wild Yala (Dancing) and Haburugala Withanage Hiran Abeywickrama from Chaaya Wild Yala (Singing)

Judging at the finals was carried out by a panel of industry experts consisting Dushyanth Weeraman and Natasha Jayasuriya for dancing, Annesley Malawana, Damian de Silva Wikkramatillake and Ishan de Lanerolle for singing, and Feroz Kamardeen , Mahendra Perera and Vinodh Senadeera  for drama. Prizes and awards were presented to the winners by JKH Chairman Susantha Ratnayake, JKH Deputy Chairman Ajit Gunawardene, JKH Group Human Resources President Dilani Alagaratnam, JKH Consumer Foods Sector President Jit Gunaratne, JKH Vice President and Head of Beverages Chandima Perera and JKH Vice President and Head of Frozen Confectionary Neil Samarasinghe.

The colourful night proved to be rewarding to the lively audience as well, consisting members of the various JK business units. A raffle draw saw numerous winners walk away with attractive prizes including gift and holiday vouchers, air tickets and two Samsung Galaxy Duos smartphones, courtesy Mackinnons, Keells Super, John Keells Hotels and John Keells Office Automation. Notably, the night’s comperes, the energetic Sashi Jaywardena from Cinnamon Grand and the elegant Thaimi Mohamed from John Keells Computer Services, kept the audience rapt with their entertaining stage presence.

JK Talent Night was held in line with international talent show standards, with a series of auditions held to decide on contender eligibility to perform at the finals. The semi-finals of the event, held on 18 February at Cinnamon Grand’s Oak Room saw 59 applications for three categories (Singing, Dancing, Drama), totalling 150 participants from all JK BU units, vying for a spot in the finals. Judging at the semi-finals was done by an expert panel including Dushyanth Weeraman, Mahendra Perera, Annesley Malawana, Damian de Silva Wikkramatillake and Vinodh Senadeera.