''Sri Lanka's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''SLGT'') is a televised Sri Lankan

talent show A talent show or talent contest is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are p ...

competition and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...

. The program is produced by Stein Studios and

Syco Entertainment Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment and production company, headquartered in London, founded and owned by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. The company focuses on TV production. The company was formed in 2 ...

, and broadcasts on

Sirasa TV Sirasa TV is a digital, terrestrial television network in Sri Lanka. It is the sister channel of ' TV 1' (Previously MTV Channel and MTV Sports) which was established in 1992. Sirasa TV was started in 1998 as a sister to its radio network Sir ...

. The first season premiered on 18 March 2018, with the live finale being held on 30 September 2018. After a 7-year hiatus the show was renewed for a second season in 2024.

Format

Contestants of any age, who possess some sort of talent, can audition for the show, with their performance judged by a panel of judges in the preliminary rounds. During the auditions three acts will receive the

Golden buzzer ''Got Talent'' is a British talent show TV format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment. It has spawned spin-offs in over 60 countries, in what is now referred to as the 'Got Talent' format, similar to that described by Freman ...

, one from each judge. 50 acts from the auditions, along with 3 golden buzzer acts and 3 wild card acts chosen by the judges will advance to the quarterfinals. Some acts might require performing again in order to be confidently chosen for the quarterfinals, similar to the Judge Cuts. 56 acts will compete in 8 quarterfinals, 7 acts per quarterfinal. 3 acts from each quarterfinal will advance to the semifinals. The advanced 24 acts will compete in 4 semifinals, 6 acts per semifinal. Each semifinal will feature a guest judge as well. In each semifinal, one act will be selected by the judge board to advance to the Pre Finale directly and 2 more acts will be selected based on public votes. 12 acts will compete in a double-episode Pre Finale, 6 acts per each episode. At the end of the second episode, Top 6 acts from the Pre Finale will be chosen by the judge board to compete in the live Grand Finale. In the live telecasted Grand Finale, a winner and runners-up will be chosen based on public votes. The winner will be awarded with the "SLGT Champions" title along with a

Rs. Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Afri ...

10 million cah prize.

Judges and Hosts

Guest judges

A guest judge will appear in each semifinal to help the judge board to decide on 4 acts which will advance to the Pre Finale directly without going through the public votes.

Series overview

Season 1 (2018)

The preliminary rounds took place at 3 locations in 2017, 30 October - 1 November at E. L. Senanayake premises,

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

, 11 - 12 November at

Mahinda College Mahinda College is a Buddhist boys' school in Galle, Sri Lanka. The school was established on 1 March 1892 by the Buddhist Theosophical Society led by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. As of today it is a National school (Sri Lanka), national school whi ...

Galle Galle (, ; , ) (formerly ) is a major city on the southwestern tip of Sri Lanka, south of Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the capital of Galle District. Galle was known as ''Gi ...

and 24 - 26 November at

Stein Studios Stein may refer to: Places Austria * Stein, a neighbourhood of Krems an der Donau, Lower Austria * Stein, Styria, a municipality in the district of Fürstenfeld, Styria * Stein (Lassing), a village in the district of Liezen, Styria * Stein an ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

. The rest of the season was also held at Stein Studios. The season premiered on 18 March 2018 at 9 p.m in Sirasa TV.

Jackson Anthony Conganige Joseph Malsi Jackson Anthony (as ජැක්සන් ඇන්තනී; 8 July 1958 – 9 October 2023), commonly known as Jackson Anthony, was a Sri Lankan actor in film, theatre and television. One of the most popular artists in ...

's golden buzzer act was the Gini Sisila (fire dance) act by Nipuni Sithara,

Tillakaratne Dilshan Tillakaratne Mudiyanselage Dilshan (; born 14 October 1976), commonly known as TM Dilshan () is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is often regarded as the best rated Sri Lankan player i ...

's was the traditional Angampora dance act by the

Sri Lanka Air Force The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF; ; ) is the air force, air arm and the youngest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. It was founded in 1951 as the Royal Ceylon Air Force (RCyAF) with the assistance of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The SLAF played a major r ...

and

Soundarie David Rodrigo Soundarie David Rodrigo is a pianist, Accompaniment, accompanist, music director and music educationalist from Sri Lanka. She is in the panel of judges of the Sri Lanka's Got Talent (often abbreviated as SLGT) originated from the Got Talent franc ...

's was the musician N.S. Wageshan. Quarterfinals were held from 17 June 2018. Lahiru Perera,

Dilhani Ekanayake Dilhani Ashokamala Ekanayake (; born 4 March 1970) is an actress in Cinema of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. One of the most popular film actresses in Sinhala cinema, Ekanayake has won several awards as the most popular ...

, Bathiya Jayakody from the music duo

Bathiya and Santhush Bathiya & Santhush (), also known as BnS, are a Sri Lankan pop duo consisting of Bathiya Jayakody (born on December 22, 1976) and Santhush Weeraman (born on September 5, 1977), who met while at the "Mary Anne David School of Vocal Music and" i ...

and

Pubudu Chathuranga Eththiligoda Vidana Gamage Pubudu Chathuranga, (born 12 November 1982: ), popularly as Pubudu Chathuranga, is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. He is also worked as a model, TV presenter and a screenplay writer. Personal l ...

were the 4 guest judges in the semifinals respectively.

's golden buzzer Nipuni Sithara,

's golden buzzer Angampora pool, circus acrobat M.G. Suminda and rubic cube solver Osindu Nayanajith were the 4 acts directly advanced to the Pre Finale from the semifinals round. The Pre Finale was held on 9 and 16 September 2018. The Grand Finale was held on 30 September 2018. The season was won by the Angampora Pool of the

, with the fast mental arithmetic act Nimna Hiranya coming in second and the fire dance act Nipuni Sithara placing third.

Season 2 (2024)

After a 7-year hiatus since 2018 due to domestic situations along with the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the show has been renewed for a second season in May 2024. The preliminary rounds are expected to begin in late 2024, with the season premiering in early 2025.

Reception

References

External links

Sri Lanka's Got Talent
on Stein Studios website {{Got Talent Got Talent Non-American television series based on American television series Non-Australian television series based on Australian television series Non-British television series based on British television series Sirasa TV original programming Sri Lankan television shows Talent shows Television shows filmed in Sri Lanka