Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

What a great Saturday evening. Only good news from Sweden tonight!

No sooner the ice hockey world championship semi-final in Stockholm between Oncle Sam and Switzerland was over, it was the final of the 2013 Eurovision Song contest further south in Malmo.

Ice Hockey World Championship first
Yes, even I hardly believe it! The very little Swiss dwarf from behind the mountains won the semi-finals against Big Mac by 3:0.
Switzerland`s fairytale run at the world ice hockey championships continued on Saturday when they reached the final thanks to a 3-0 victory over United States.

It`s time again for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest taking place in Malmo / Sweden on Saturday evening.
The last 10 songs qualified for the final have just been selected tonight.

Whereas I found it quite easy to figure out the Swedish winner last, this year has proven to be more difficult. Out of the 26 nations qualified for the final, here are my top 3 favorites and the top 3 outsiders.

My top 3
Emmelie De Forest - Only Teardrops (Denmark)
Zlata Ognevich - Gravity (Ukraine)
Aliona Moon - O Mie (Moldavia)

Solar-powered plane wraps first leg of flight across U.S

Photo

2:48pm EDT

(Reuters) - The flight from San Fransisco to Phoenix took 18 hours and 18 minutes on Saturday - and didn`t use a drop of fuel.

A solar-powered airplane that developers hope eventually to pilot around the world landed safely in Phoenix on the first leg of an attempt to fly across the United States using only the sun`s energy, project organizers said.

The plane, dubbed the Solar Impulse, took 18 hours and 18 minutes to reach Phoenix on the slow-speed flight, completing the first of five legs with planned stops in Dallas, St. Louis and Washington on the way to a final stop in New York.

I have seen this live approx. 10 days ago on ITV. What a fantastic voice!

Simon (one judge) was right in saying that this is one of the best auditions so far and I expect her to be in the final show.
She has the potential to become a star singer too.

Enjoy it.
Your MusicElephant

Note: There are different copies on YouTube. Select another one if this here does not work in your country.

Amazing

It`s the season of the 2013 best talents in various countries and this here is the Ukranian version of it.
The dancing performance of Flame is really exceptional, with particular attention to be given during following passages:
1.50
2.26
2.45
2.50
3.01
3.21
3.32

For me of course the additional charm was to hear the song `je t`aime` (I love you) of one of my favorite French singer Laura Fabian.

Hope you enjoy it.
Your MusicElephant

Premasara EPASINGHE

Way back in 1987, as the Public Relations and Marketing Personality of Bank of Ceylon, as instructed by my General Manager A S Jayawardena, I met Sunil Shantha, great musician and artist and invited him to be our Gguest artist in our prestigious Aradhana programme. This great personality, who was my idol, turned down the offer. I quote what Sunil Shantha expressed.

`Mr Epasinghe, why don`t you invite Victor Ratnayake, I can proudly say he is number one in Sri Lanka today, tomorrow and in future. He is a creative artist. I have the highest respect and regard for Victor.`

The amazing RT video of the meteroite shower over Russia this morning!

For most of us, this Friday will be devoted to recovering from Valentine`s Day, or running to the store to buy a belated gift because you forgot that special day.

For Ed Lu, and anyone keeping up with space news recently, February 15 is significant for another reason.

The former NASA astronaut will be tracking 2012 DA14, a medium-sized asteroid expected to get so close to Earth that it will pass under all of the communications satellites orbiting our planet.

Several times I have already drawn your attention to Jayantha Dhanapala, a great patriot who deserves our deepest respect.

I could not have formulated this better than
harry rubenstein

A brilliant analysis of many a painfully conspicuous reality Sri Lanka faces as a society & a nation from a scintillating intellectual. What a pity the likes of Jayantha Dhanapala are only `hidden` treasures in the eys of the masses and not in the helm of steering this beleaguered nation to safety. By the way, the crooks & criminals running the country can kiss this man`s feet for starters!

Adele`s latest song for the new James Bond movie reminds me a little bit of the latest events in Sri Lanka, for as long as you have a creative mind!

Just listen to it and let me know what you think of it.

Your MusicElephant

After years of threats, what made one of Sri Lanka`s boldest journalists leave her home country?

Listening Post Last Modified: 15 Jan 2013 14:41

For this Listening Post feature, we interview one journalist who has recently fled her country, Sri Lanka. Over the past few years freedom of the press has been under attack by the government there. One newspaper in particular has been in the governmental crosshairs, the Sunday Leader.

Sri Lankan jewels are making their presence felt on the global markets. Prepare yourself for the world`s largest blue sapphire the country has to offer, a 17-kilogram very blueish stone that`s been cut from a 42-kilo blue sapphire corundum.

Experts say the formation took more than 200,000 years to develop. Sapphires have traditionally been worn by kings and queens. And many of the royal stones are from Sri Lanka.

But years of bloody civil war overshadowed the country`s business. Sri Lankans now hope with the astonishing giant blue stone, the jewelry industry can reach new heights.

It`s still the festive season and time to cheer us up a bit!

In the final of the 2012 show of France has incredible talents on M6 an exceptional acrobat made his appearance. Even Sophie Edelstein, the lady judge and artistic director of Cirque Pander (also shown in this video), one of the top 3 circuses in Europe, admitted that even she has never seen such an outstanding performance. Your particular attention is required at 2.20 min.
I let you judge it by yourself. The sad thing for Andre is that he finished second in this show.

12 d c. 2012 | Reuters
Sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar, who helped introduce the sitar to the Western world through his collaborations with The Beatles, died near his home in Southern California on Tuesday, his family said. He was 92.

Shankar, a three-time Grammy winner with legendary appearances at the 1967 Monterey Festival and Woodstock, had been in fragile health for several years and last Thursday underwent surgery, his family said in a statement.

Although it is a time for sorrow and sadness, it is also a time for all of us to give thanks and to be grateful that we were able to have him as a part of our lives, the family said.

Magnus Carlsen of Norway has won the 4th London Classic in style, irrespective of the result of his final game. Magnus` Live rating, currently 2862.4 is an all time record and has surpassed Garry Kasparov`s record of 2851 which stood for 13 years. The new rating list will be published on January 1st 2013.
Magnus became world number one at the London Chess Classic and he has made history again here. We all look forward to seeing him in London again in 2013 when he begins his world title attempt in the Candidates Matches. He truly is at the top of the chess world.