If you're a Tamil university student from the UK, you've most likely heard of Kings of Gaana and even attended one of their popular shows. Their last event, held on December 14, 2014, was completely sold out days before the event, leaving last minute ticket buyers disappointed.
Kings of Gaana, started in 2012 by the King's College London Tamil Society, is an inter-university gaana dance competition which brings universities from all over the UK to participate. Profits from the shows are given to various charities (Sivan Arul Illam, Butterfly project and Building Blocks ) which support development efforts in Sri Lanka.
In addition to supporting charities, the event serves as an opportunity to bring students together to help them display their talents with a healthy competition. Eight universities made it to the grand finale this past year, but Cambridge defended their winning title again by taking the grand prize home.
Here are some highlights from Kings of Gaana's latest event.
Cambridge's winning performance:
http://youtu.be/xCRzWAJaczQ
Vijay TV's Super Singer finalist, Pragathi Guruprasad, also performed for the crowd:
http://youtu.be/LmLMVyfwrik
The event was hosted by Braha and Kutti Hari (known as the Tom and Jerry of the Tamil community).
The judges from left to right: Dayan Shan aka Tamil LOL (not involved in scoring), Gaana Raajas Choreographer Jeya Raveendran, Vijay TV's Jodi Number One season four title winner Premini Marayathas and Brinthan Varathalingam.
Love what they're doing? You just might have to hop on a plane, jump into a car or simply walk over to their next event (if you're lucky enough to be a resident student).
Check out more images from Kings of Gaana here.