[dropcap type=”default”]N[/dropcap]ot all battles are fought with swords and bows and arrows. Some are fought with vocal chords, drumsticks and your dancing shoes. Sometimes in packed arenas, in place of blood drenched battle fields”.
This year, the Rotaract Club of Achievers Lanka Business School reinvented one of its signature projects to a novel, electrifying format, where the grand finale was transformed into a battle, under different categories, for the first time in Sri Lanka. Adding to the excitement of the battle was the ring placed right in the center of the stadium, replacing the stage. On that ring, in the center of a 360⁰ arena, with the audience as close as possible and the atmosphere as electric as imaginable, the contestants battled it out for the title in the categories of Solo Singing, Group Singing, Bands, Beatboxing and Group dancing.
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This year, FIA was undertaken by our current president Rtr. Maneesha Abeyarathne and was chaired by Rtr. Kenneth de Zilva, Rtr. Rimzan Raheem and Rtr. Hamdhan Sulaiman with the aim of fundraising ‘Project Life’; a community service project to provide Rain Water Harvesting Systems to areas affected by Chronic Kidney Disease in the North Central Province.
Initial round of auditions featured over 100 contestants from the 5 categories. The intensely fought auditions was followed by semi finals and then workshops for the chosen finalists. In the lead-up to the finals, the finalist also geared up for a photo-shoot, which fueled the Social Media segment of the Most Popular Contestant awards, which reached over 50,000 people on Facebook. All this culminated in the clash of 14 finalists in the 5 categories, at the Grand Finale on Saturday the 27th of May at the Royal MAS Arena, from 6 PM onwards. The winners walked away with Rs 300,000 worth of cash rewards and gift vouchers.
Solo Singing
[column width=”50%”]The Solo singing category was one of the highlights of the finals. It was a complete change over, as the 4 finalist chosen, were asked to pair up and work together, instead of against each other. Their challenge was made unique, as the judges handed a song to each pair and requested them to practice and perform together. The judges constantly worked on their performance, which resulted in a masterful performance of the two songs at the finals.[/column]
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After the two breath-taking battles between the pairs of Apshi-Moksha and Falan-Lasith, it was Moksha and Falan who made it to the finals. Following a closely contested individual performance round, judges were faced with a very tough choice, And ultimately crowned Falan the winner in the Solo Singing category.
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Beatboxing
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This category was a definite show stopper as FIA 2017 presented Sri Lanka’s first-ever beat boxing battle, which had the audience at the edge of their seats. As Anish and Vihan out did each others’ performance as they went back and forth in two rounds of performance, the audience were left mesmerized by the sheer magic of the music that was made purely by their vocal chords.
The two finalists kept up the intensity right until the last buzzer. This is another contest which made the job extra hard for the judges but Anish ultimately prevailed to emerge victorious.
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Group Singing
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[column width=”50%”]Vocal Ignite’s excellently choreographed performance made them winners in this category which also featured heart-warming performances by Carllin & Moksha and the Siblings. Vocal ignite were specially impressive as they sang acapella with beautifully synchorized outfits and moves.[/column]
Group Dancing
[column width=”50%”]ECANS and Rhythmic squads put up delightful performances in the dancing category. Their beautiful costumes, innovative choice of songs, precise dance moves and excellent synchronization, showed the amount of thought and preparation each group had put into their performance. Ultimately, ECANS came out victorious in this closely fought battle.[/column]
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Bands
The performances of all three bands was unforgettable, with a combination of covers as well as originals.
PLAGUE, who had the audience head banging to their electrifying riffs and sensational beats, of their rendition of “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes and “Another Brick in the Wall” by Pink Floyd, emerged winners in this category, amidst some intense competition from Fire Island La Bandos.
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The event also featured special guest performances by some of the biggest names in the industry, including Julius Mitchell of Beat Boxing fame, and ‘Freeze’. Julius and Prince Leone had the audience in awe while Freeze managed to get them dancing on their feet, to their sensational baila music.
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In all, the audience and the contestants witnessed a night of talent and entertainment they’ll remember for days to come. The committee will take pride in knowing that they have changed the scope of talent competitions forever, and laid the platform for greater things to come.
Signing off,
Kenneth, Hamdhan and Rimzan
Project Co-Chairpersons.
RACALBS