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Ajaz Shafeek, Athula Mahawalage, Shereen Kumaranathunge, Senaka De Silva, Sangeetha Weeraratne, Channa Wijewardene, Dananjaya Bandara, Arosh Ediriweera
By Hiruni Dabarera
The Model Shop in association with Siyatha TV and Kiss FM officially launched Miss World Sri Lanka 2016 yesterday in celebration of beauty and life.
The launch was attended by the Model Shop Directors Sangeetha Weerarathne, Dhananjaya Bandara and Shereen Kumaratunga, Production Choreographer Senaka De Silva, Official Photographer Athula Mahawalage and Dance Choreographer Channa Wijewardene.
“This year we are hoping to reach a wider application base (last year we received over 100 applications) through our print media partner Wijeya Newspaper Ltd. and our electronic media partner Voice of Asia. As you can see, we have a longer list of media partners than the previous years to give us better opportunities for sponsors, reach island wide to search for the best contestants to represent Sri Lanka and also most importantly to give our contestants the reach for the people,” said Weerarathne.
This is the fourth consecutive year that Model Shop is producing a Sri Lankan contestant to the international pageant. They believe 
that it is their duty to evoke the inner beauty within their contestants to see to the needs of those who are less fortunate and to uplift a needy humanitarian cause under the theme of the ‘Miss World; Beauty with a purpose’. This year too they are planning to hold a gala event to raise funds for kidney patients.
The organisers will select 12 to 15 finalists and the winner will stand a chance to represent Sri Lanka at the Miss World pageant held in December. The finalists will be subjected to six weeks of rigorous training on poise, body shaping, alignment improvement, grace and overall elegance by Production Designer and Choreographer Senaka De Silva. They will also be taught various oriental dancing styles by the Channa-Upuli performing Arts Foundation and trained on personal grooming and social etiquette by the official communication skills trainer Kumar De Silva.
There will be several mini-pageants including seven that Miss World hosts annually like Miss Personality, Congeniality, Talent, Sports and Fitness, Beautiful Smile, Radiant Skin, Body Beautiful, Most Effective on Social Media, Best Model and the Best Dance of Sri Lanka.
The launch was also attended by the former Miss World Sri Lanka winners Thilini Amarasooriya (2015) and Chulakshi Ranathunga (2014) who shared their experiences on participating at an international pageant, how it changed their lives and widened their opportunities.
Pix by Shehan Gunasekara
