Starting out her career with Bathiya n Santhush, Ashanthi entered the arena of professional Music Production & Entertainment at the tender age of 17. Her first single Out of the Blue reaching global audiences in 1999 won her the award for Most Promising Female Singer at the Shanghai Asia Music festival in 2000. Subsequently, her debut duo album Oba Magemai (M Entertainment / Sony Music 2003) reached new heights in Sri Lankas youth music revolution while her hit song Angel clinched the award for Song of the year at the Sunday Observer Golden Clef Music Awards in 2003. Ashanthi s musical roots lie in Classical, Operatic, Broadway and Gospel for which she began training at the young age of 9. Her musical talents also delve into the world of advertising, production and songwriting, her most prominent work being on Sirasa TV s Sri Lankan Tsunami song We shall rebuild which received air play on BBC, MTV and Channel V. During the last two years, Ashanthi has toured Europe, The Mediterranean, North America, Australasia, The Middle East as well as most of the Asian subcontinent and The Far East wowing audiences in the global arena. Her major performances include appearances at the Sydney Opera House - Australia, Trafalgar Square & Millenium Dome - London, Cannes Film Festival -France, ITB worldwide conference (International Tourist Board Convention) - Berlin, Germany. It s an exciting time for Ashanthi de Alwis who is to release her debut solo album ..Sandawathuren.. under the Sony BMG / M Entertainment labels in October 2006. With a tour schedule and workload that allows for very little wriggle-room, the diva s long-awaited album has been a steep learning curve and a labour of love. The album is a fresh perspective on life and love says the sultry RnB singer. I want the album to be like someone s favourite t-shirt - an album that you feel at home with, a soundtrack to life of sorts. Production-wise Ashanthi says the album is a fusion of the newest sounds - a blend of ethnic melodies and radio-friendly hip hop/rnb and pop ballads. With production powerhouses such as Bathiya Jayakody, Mahesh Denipitiyiya,the Ranganathan brothers [Shyamalangan and Sarangan] behind the mixing desk and Eranga Jayawansa creating beats and SFX for the album, future prospects for the album certainly look promising. Other artistes featured on the album are Bertrum Charles (Vocals), Randhir Witana (Rap / Lyrics) Redrum (Rap), Nawarathna Gamage (melody composition), Nuwan (Flute), Ruwan Weerasekera (Violin), Jananath Warakagoda (Ethnic drums / percussion), Dave Collins (Saxaphone) and members of the Sri Lanka Youth Orchestra on additional Cello and Violin. The writers were specifically hand picked from the cream of the crop , in order to handle each song with an individually unique approach. Nilar Cassim, Vasantha Dukkgannarala & Hemasiri Halpita are the creators of lyrics specially conceptualized by Ashanthi and planned by both Bathiya & Ashanthi, while melod