Sajitha Anthony is nominated for the most popular Instagram account award
Dasuni Senethma is nominated for most popular television actress
- Voting under 38 categories ends on 22 Sept.
In an attempt to recognise talent across fields, the Popular Awards is being held for the first time in Sri Lanka, with the voting ending tomorrow (22) and the award night to be held on 13 October. The Popular Awards 2023 is founded by Geethanjana De Costa, and recognises talent in film, television, social media, music, and media under a whopping 38 categories.
The main sponsor of the award ceremony is British Way English Academy, and its founder Geethadeva Shantha is the Chairman of the 2023 Popular Awards. The partners of the event include the Youth and Sports Ministry, National Youth Services Council, and Lions Club International and its youth organisation Leos of Sri Lanka.
The executive committee of Popular Awards 2023 as well as stars representing the various fields being recognised by the awards were present at the nominations evening held on 11 September at Waters Edge.
In terms of movies, the award ceremony recognises talent under categories like popular film, popular film song, and popular actor and actress, with similar categories for television as well. Nominations for radio include popular station, programmes, news station, and presenter, with similar awards for television as well. The most popular newspaper will also be recognised at the event.
The music categories recognise the most popular band, singer (male and female), song, and cover song, and social media categories cover areas like TikTok and Instagram accounts, Facebook page. Awards are also being given under various YouTube genres like comedy, travel, technology, personal and vlogs, education, and cookery.
In terms of the special awards, Popular Awards 2023 will recognise a host of fields, including makeup artists, salons, cricket players, teachers, photographers, and dancers.
Speaking at the nominations evening, De Costa shared that the award has been a dream five years in the making. “I’ve had a dream for five years of doing something for the arts in Sri Lanka. I did all I could, but I wanted to do something lasting. When giving this some thought over these five years, I thought of doing an awards ceremony,” he shared.
De Costa explained that Sri Lankan arts are recognised at around five award ceremonies. He was involved in one as a co-ordinator, and the experience he gained here contributed to realising his dream.
“I considered what kind of an award ceremony could be held, because it wouldn’t do to have an awards ceremony that recognised the same existing categories. I observed that for the most part, these award ceremonies recognised the best or most talented persons, and only 5-10% of the awards were given based on popularity. I wondered: Can’t we give 100% of the awards based on popularity?” De Costa said.
He added that the struggle then began to find sponsors and support for the event. However, British Way English Academy recognised the potential and importance of the Popular Awards and came on board, with other partners joining thereafter.
This was the journey that led to the Popular Awards, and with voting to end tomorrow, the nominees under the 38 categories are bound to be looking forward to the winner announcements next month.