In the arts, a nation united
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TV's "Kon Thai Kun Thep", which celebrates traditional performing arts, climaxes tonight
Five teams are in the final round of “Kon Thai Kun Thep”, the TV reality show about traditional Thai performance arts. The grand finale airs on Modernine tonight at 9.30, the culmination of a 10-week competition involving many teams from all four regions of the country.
The finalists are Ekkatan and Pet Jarat Saeng from the Central region, Rom Dan Chang from the North, Thep Satha from the South and Paka Lamduan from the Northeast. They’ll be performing tonight in accordance with the theme “Lao ruang prathet Thai hai khrob thang prathet” – “Presenting Thailand as a whole”.
The winning team will receive Bt1 million and the King’s trophy.
Ekkatan, which won for the folk music competition in 2009 and was named Outstanding Youth Group at the Thailand-Korea Friendship Festival 2011, made terrific use of the klong yao (long drum) in the semi-finals, showing how it can reflect religious beliefs, history, literature, unity and even tourism.
Pet Jarat Saeng, which appeared on “Thailand’s Got Talent” during Season 3, gave a stunning performance of traditional music and dance, bringing out its Thainess in terms of “nation, religion and king”.
Rom Dan Chang from Chiang Mai – the name comes from the Chiang Mai University anthem –beautifully portrayed a graceful river connecting Thais in all regions.
Thep Satha from the College of Dramatic Arts in Pattalung, related Siam’s history through the manora, the traditional southern dance, and plans to do more with it in a show called “Sai Thai Sai Cheewit” in the final round.
Paka Lamduan from Srisaket Rajabhat University, which won the folk music and dance competition last year, is the dark horse on this TV show.
The final round has more judges from all four regions, such as Lanna artist Panutat Apichanatong, Assistant Professor Thammanit Nikomrat of Thaksin University in Songkhla, National Artist actor Suprawat Patmasut, and established songwriter Sala Khunawut.
“It’s a very good programme in the way it shows the strong current of cultures from other countries,” says host Sanya “Doo” Kunakorn. “Despite the fact that Thailand has a lot of folk arts, people have few chances to really get the feel of them.”
Find out more at www.Facebook.com/ KonThaiKunThep.com.
