Mini pageant winners
It was an elegant and tense finish to over two months of intense preparation and amidst all the pageantry, the new Siyatha Miss World Sri Lanka was revealed on September 18 at the Hilton Grand Ballroom. Confetti rained down as Dusheni Silva was crowned, and she was all smiles as she hugged the other runners up: 1st runner-up Hirushi Jayasena, 2nd runner-up Harini Silva, 3rd runner-up Madara Marasinghe, and 4th runner- up Wasana Gunasekara. The organisers from Model Shop in association with Kiss Fm and Siyatha TV had invited 2016 Miss World Thailand Jinnita Buddee, 2016 Miss World Myanmar Myat Thiri Lwin, 2016 Miss World Vietnam Truong Thi Dieu Ngoc, 2016 Miss World Philippines Catriona Gray and 2016 Miss World India Priyadarshini Chatterjee for the show and the international beauty queens made a memorable catwalk appearance to the delight of the crowd. Also present were former Miss World Sri Lanka winners - 2013 winner Iresha Asanki De Silva, 2014 Miss World Sri Lanka Chulakshi Ranathunga, Thilini Amarasooriya who represented the country at the 2015 Miss World pageant in China and last year’s Miss World Sri Lanka Amritaa De Silva. The ceremony opened with a welcome performance by the Channa-Upuli dance troupe, choreographed by Channa Wijewardena himself aptly titled “Sooriya Namaskara” (Sun Worship). The audience were then witness to the first model presentation of the evening by veteran designer/ choreographer Senaka De Silva. The contestants in Eric Suriyasena batik two pieces, with strings of pearls and beads, hair cascading down their backs and a flower tucked
The winners of the mini pageants conducted over the past two months were announced during the show: Harini Silva: “Kiss FM - Miss Popular”, “Miss Sports and Fitness” and “Singer Mega - Miss Talent”. Harini also tied with fellow contestant Wasana Gunasekara in “Kamsims - Most Beautiful in Eastern Wear”. Wasana Gunasekera:
Hair”. Dusheni Silva: “Vision Care - Selfie Queen”, “Facia - Most Beautiful Skin”, “LICC - Model of the year”, “Fadna - Miss Fit & Slim” Hirushi Jayasena: “Sensodyne - Most Beautiful Smile”, “Arpico - Miss Personality” and “Dances of Sri Lanka - Sponsored by Amaloh by Jetwing”. Minelle Perera: “Arpico Super Centre - Miss
Congeniality”. “Reborn - Most Beautiful behind their ears sashayed onto the stage to Latha Walpola’s “Peradiga muthu atayai me”.
The 13 contestants were formally introduced to the judges in the following order; Sanduni Greasman, Hirushi Jayasena, Madara Marasinghe, Reem Raveena, Ishini Fonseka, Thashmila Peiris, Minelle Perera, Shalindini Wandana, Dusheni Silva, Sanjana Hewage, Wasana Gunasekara, Govindi Aishvarya and Harini Silva.
The judges were silver screen star Malini Fonseka, General Manager at Hilton Colombo Manesh Fernando, the Turkish ambassador to Sri Lanka Büyükelçi Tunca Özçuhadar, Sonia Adlakha, and beauty and hair expert Ramani Fernando.
The second segment of the ceremony saw the contestants in evening gowns designed and styled by Charith Wijesekera and Elly Creations with hair and makeup by Ramani Fernando salon.
As the night wore on a silence fell over the crowd as the top eight contestants were announced: Dusheni, Harini, Hirushi, Madara, Shalindini, Govindi, Wasana and Sanjana.
As the excitement built up, the entertainment continued with performances by the Channa-Upuli dancers and the ever popular Bathiya and Santhush, and finally Miss World Sri Lanka 2016 Amritaa emerged onto the stage to crown the new Miss Sri Lanka with the glittering crown (estimated to be worth Rs. 19 Million).
The new Siyatha Miss World Sri Lanka will represent Sri Lanka at the Miss World 2017 pageant to be held on November 18, in China.