With just weeks away from crowning Siyatha Miss World Sri Lanka 2017, preparations are under way to pull off its fifth edition in a grand style. The pageant presented by The Model Shop has been a platform for local beauties to showcase their beauty, skills and also make a change in the community. Coupled with its humanitarian project ‘Beauty with a Purpose’ this contest definitely is not just another beauty contest. 

Speaking to Life Online, a few experts working behind the scenes told us about this year’s contestants and their tasks. 

As the official choreographer of this contest for the past five years, Senaka De Silva has transformed many novices in to professional models. 

“Sangeetha and our professional team have brought this beauty contest to an international standard here,”

says Senaka sharing his thoughts about the upcoming pageant. 

“Therefore everything is very professional and it reflects people who are watching, it’s properly choreographed etc. and because of that, it has earned a good name. I also found that this year we have found lots of girls who have come with good personalities. I think people have a stigma about beauty contests but this contest has a humanitarian aspect to it since it’s coupled with the ‘beauty with a purpose’ project.
Therefore it’s a bigger cause and not just a beauty contest. All 15 contestants have to do a ‘beauty with a purpose’ project and they can work on a lot of areas. So it has opened doors for the younger crowd to make a change in their community. Every year the choreography part has been quite challenging because we have to turn novices in to professionals. For me the greatest treasure is to see the transformation and I train everyone to be a winner.”

“I’m happy to be on board for the third consecutive year with this pageant,”

said Kumar De Silva,

Communication Skills Trainer for Siyatha Miss World Sri Lanka 2017. 

“As it was during the past two years, the girls are highly motivated and very enthusiastic and this makes my task easier. Communication is a three-pronged performance : visual + verbal + content. If one gets this equation correct, one is on the right track. The visual part is being handled by the experts in our team. The tricky part is combing the verbal + content. I’m a perfectionist and so it will be tough for the contestants but rewarding if they get it right.”

Tiron Wickramasinghe has been involved with the Siyatha pageant as the Fitness Partner for the past five years. Speaking to us, he said that there's a tremendous change and demand for the event now and that there are participants from all over the country. 

“My task is to improve their fitness skills to go in par with that of the international pageant. I train them for two mini pageants; Ms. Body Beautiful and Ms. Sports and Fitness which they have to face with much confidence. The final contestant who leaves to the main pageant has to work hard to compete with other international contestants. So I believe that with dedication and commitment they could reach towards their goal.”