TNL ONSTAGE

SEASON 18- FINALS

TNL Onstage Season 18 Finals was held on the 20th of October, at the Jetwing Colombo 07 hotel. Five bands and five solo artists took to the stage and gave the audience what was a fate determining, performance of a lifetime, and a performance that has the potential to impact these young artists’ future careers as musicians in Sri Lanka, as TNL Onstage is famously regarded as the biggest platform for local musical talent. The night ended with a cliff hanger as the winners of the competition were not announced at the end of the performances. Instead, audience members will have to look forward to “TNL Onstage: The Festival” on the 10th of November, at Idea Hell, to find out who won the coveted titles of Best Band and Best Solo artist. The fate of the bands and solo artists were placed in the hands of esteemed judges Pathum Fernando, Marsh Dodanwela, Kumudini David, Randhir Witana and Dylon Manuel, and we are all looking forward to the results. The performers and performances were, overall, of a high standard. The range of songs picked from a variety of genres kept the crowd on their toes. The bands and solo artistes really made the songs their own styles concept by to adding going, it. Blaze consisting their had unique an interesting mainly flair and of Odyssey beatboxes surprised and one the keyboardist. crowd with an incredible rendition of their final song “As the Silence Becomes Me”. The instruments in Blitz were on point. Sky Puppies and DNM Crew switched it up with their very unique styles and both gave the audience an incredible and memorable performance. The solo artistes were all A1, and captivated the audience with their performances. The only downside of the event was the sound system which we feel didn’t do the performers justice- a sentiment shared by much of the audience. Hopefully, we can expect better at the Festival. “TNL Onstage: The Festival” will he held on the 10th of November, 2018 at ‘Idea Hell’ on Alwis Place, Colombo 03. All finalists, solo for announced. the and last band, time Alongside will before be the performing results finalists, are a host of famous local artists are expected to perform, making the event even bigger than previous Onstage events. Something for music lovers, supporters of the contestants and fans of these local artists to look forward to.

We caught up with audience members after Finals on Saturday for their thoughts on the performances:

PHOTOS BY Waruna Wanniarachi RANDULA “This was an unexpected event for me. It was better than I expected. Performances were pretty good”

SOUNDARIE “TNL Onstage has always been a platform that encouraged young people and gave them a chance to also come up with something original. In that sense, I’m glad they did it this year as well. There is a lot of potential. I had the opportunity to work with all of the soloists, and all of them are unique. I hope the best one wins”

RAAKHEE “It’s been a while since I’ve attended TNL Onstage and I see the talent has improved so much. There is so much new talent in Sri Lanka. I’m glad it has been noticed. Good luck to the finalists and may the best band and soloist win!”

NADINE “So the last time I came for Onstage was ten years ago. It’s great to see that people still come for it and support them. Talent-wise, the standard has gone up. It’s good to come for the finals after so long”

DILANKA “So I’ve been for TNL Onstage around 3 times in a row now. The competition has increased among the bands and there is pretty good local talent. I wish all the performers well”

“I think the show was good. It’s the first time I’ve come for TNL Onstage. The crowd was good”

RANJIKA “Once again, well done TNL Staff. It’s a tight contest so will be interesting to see who wins”

“It was very well organised. It’s nice to see we have a lot of talent in this country”

RIYANA “We came to supports Blitz. We wish them all the best”

SANJAYA “It’s a fantastic atmosphere. I’m really enjoying it”