Miss Sri Lanka for Miss Grand International & Mister Sri Lanka for Mister International 2016 

An evening filled with the glitz, glamour and excitement where the twenty contestants were battling against each other for title and crown. Each unquestionably unique and full of passion and drive, making the task even more difficult for the experienced panel of judges! The pageant took place at the Taj Colombo, with a dress code of Vegas Glamour and had an array of colourful guests from past models to television personalities and fashion designers! 

The event had a panel of judges from beautiful Ramani Fernando to Prarad Kathuria who is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Taj Colombo along with Ornella Gunesekere the Reigning Miss Sri Lanka for Miss Grand also Miss Popular. 

I had the lovely opportunity to talk to two of the judges despite the intensity of the evening! 

"I'm a complete hotel patron and been working for the past 17 years at Taj, moved along in 10 different hotels of which 2 years in Sri Lanka which is a great bond with two countries since I'm also Indian. In the hotel industry  we see people in glamourous moods all the time, and today's pageant is a platform for the young generation and a good initiative specially thanking Brian and his company, for giving the opportunity to these young boys and girls to take part in this platform and outing all their energy. We hope to make justice to select the right candidate who can make it to the next level and to Sri Lanka to win" - Prarad Kathuria (Director of Sales & Marketting, Taj Samudra, Colombo) 

"I think it went off very well, I was one of the judges I met them yesterday and I earmark the winners and they deserved it. It was a good show - Ramani Fernando 

Before the crowning of the main titles, we had the swimwear and evening wear mini titles. 

And here are the winners! 

1. Swimwear 

Male Winner - Damith Wijeyathunga 

Female Winner - Harshini Ruman 

2. Evening Wear 

This segment was sponsored by Pettah Tailors and Melache for the handsome suits and the breathtaking dresses. 

Winners 

Male - Damith Wijayathunga 

Female - Nilusha Madhuwanthi 

3. Best Personality 

Winners 

Male - Daniel Rene De Zilva Wijewardene 

Female - Harshini Ruman 

Winners (Males) 

First Runner Up - Krishanth Ganeshan 

Man of The Year 2017 - Damith Wijeyathunga 

Mr. Sri Lanka for Mister International - Daniel Rene De Zilva Wijewardene 

Winners - Females 

First Runner Up - Nilusha Madhuwanthi 

Second Runner up - Chalani Shehani 

Supermodel of 2017 - Nilusha Madhuwanthi 

Miss Sri Lanka for Miss International - Harshini Ruman 

And here's what the audience thought! 

"It was actually a good event but I think some people need to be trained as they are gong to represent our country." - Shehan 

"Very nice very lovely." - Shireen 

"It was an interesting show and the winners are reasonable and all were very good, it had a  tough competition." -  Hussain 

"It went pretty well, it was really nice." - Rolando 

"It was very good, it was very beautiful and it was my first pageant and Ornella is my granddaughter and she wanted to me to come. It was a beautiful show, the winners deserved it all" - Elaine Reimers 

"It's really good, we did the hair and makeup it was a really good opportunity and all!" - Sajidrake 

"It was lovely with beautiful girls and the boys and it was a nice evening!" - Gerald Solomons 

"It was interesting and a great opportunity for them as they are going to international platforms and to do justice, to those titles and to portray themselves to recognise them - Shanith Fernando 

Photographs by Waruna Wanniarachchi