Features
Platform for lockdown folk to showcase their talent
Covid-19 is taking so much from us but it’s also giving us something special – the opportunity to come together (as one humanity), to work together, to learn together, to grow together.
And, where the music scene is concerned, Covid-19 is responsible for bringing into the spotlight lots of hidden talent!
The curfews, and lockdowns, have galvanized many musicians into action – giving them the opportunity to create, and showcase their talents.
A platform to make oneself seen and heard, not only as musicians, came about by way of The Talent Networking Group (TNG) coming into the scene on May 9th, 2020, around the time the lockdown had killed in-person events.
This Sunday, May 9th, the TNG team will be celebrating their first anniversary, and Sri Lankans can catch the action at 8.30 pm, on social media – TNGlive.
TNG Founder Allwyn H. Stephen says that he decided to create this setup for anyone to showcase any kind of talent they possess, from the comfort of their homes, to a captive audience across the world.
“The sole purpose was to provide quarantined creative and passionate people a platform to showcase themselves and stay active.”
“She saw me upset with another FB group and suggested I start my own.
“A group called Lockdown Musical Challenge began immediately but, 15 minutes later, I decided to change the name to The Talent Networking Group as I didn’t want to restrict talent, only to music.
“The idea was to encourage, motivate, inspire, and uplift everyone, during the pandemic, and lockdown, as all of us had nothing to do but stay at home and work from home.”
The Talent Networking Group’s growth trajectory has been phenomenal – represented by talent from as many as 60+ countries in just a few months since its launch.
Today, TNG has grown to include its sister group TNGlive (for live performances only). And, Sri Lankans, too, have been in the spotlight on TNGlive – Suzi Croner (Fluckiger), Melantha Perera, Sureshni, Sonali, Yasmin and Kay Jay.
By popular demand, in September 2020, TNG launched a series of contests across seven categories – Music (Vocals and Instrumental), Dance, Cooking, Baking, Painting and Arts & Craft) and the judges included the best in the industry.
The singing and instrumental judges, for example, were The Bellamy Brothers and Nunie Rubio (Texas Tornados).
The series lasted a month and culminated in a grand virtual finale with the winners walking away with prizes in cash and kind. This was the only time a contest was attempted before it was decided that a better way to motivate was to promote members’ talents and to get to know them better.
This led to the formation of Tea Talk with TNG – a weekly talk show to spotlight members, who initially were participants of the contests, and the judges.
Though started in Dubai, TNG now has members from across 70+ countries and future plans include the launch of TNG Masterclass live and their very own portal…
www.tnghome.com. – both of which will open up revenue streams for the members, who are now in an unstable and volatile economic situation.
For more information, readers could check out:
tnghome2020@gmail.com
or visit their Facebook groups by clicking the links below: