1) 16-year-old Adithya Weliwatta gained overnight fame in Sri Lanka for her powerful singing performance on the reality TV show Voice Teens, though she also faced intense online hatred and criticism. 2) While her family is very supportive of her, the online backlash led to emotional challenges and periods where she felt like quitting singing. 3) Adithya believes that while everyone has freedom of speech, no one has the right to cyberbully or tear others down, and she hopes society can focus more on being happy for others and their accomplishments.

1. In just one night, sixteen-year-old Adithya Weliwatta stole the hearts of a nation with her
performance for the blind auditions of Voice Teens, a reality TV show that kicked off in the
thick of the pandemic in 2020. Adithya has a powerful and soulful voice, which drove the four
judges on the show to fight for her. At the end of her audition, while coaches Sanuka, Raini,
Ashanthi and Dumal attempted to persuade the young singer to join their respective teams,
one coach took the young lady off the stage to seat her along with the judges. Adithya was
surrounded by four powerhouse musicians, each asking her to join their team, but Adithya
chose to join Dumal Warnakulasooriya’s team
Perhaps, this was the moment that didn’t sit well with some viewers of the show. Around the
world, the Voice franchise is known for its theatrics. The camaraderie among coaches,
fighting over contestants provides a slew of fun and entertainment, which continue to attract
millions of audiences worldwide. But at the time, it was a relatively new format of reality TV
for Sri Lankan viewers. For Adithya this would be a moment she would never forget. Along
with her overnight success, came an outpouring of hatred. Social media was soon flooded
with posts critical of the young girl. From her outfit to her outspoken ways, everything was
judged, with only a few encouraging posts in-between.
I believe that freedom of speech, freedom of expression is everyone’s basic human right. But
you have no right to peep into someone else’s personal life and attempt to breakdown
someone else’s dignity. Because everyone is unique, nobody’s perfect. Of course I do have
faults. I’m still 16 years old
“It’s a great thing. But suddenly things turned out to be different. Plans changed. Because
I’m still schooling and I’m still doing my O/Ls, it was not easy. One night, that’s all it took.
Things changed and I still can’t believe that,” Adithya recalled.
With two loving parents and two siblings —one of whom she calls a notorious one — Adithya
has braved a storm of hatred online. With her to face this storm is her family, she said. “It’s
the source of strength I have. They’re always beside me through thick and thin. Even under
the current circumstances they are the only people there for me,” Adithya said.
“I’m still a child,” she exclaims when asked to describe growing up with her family. And she
clearly is. She shares with delight about her love for Kandyan dancing and her dreams of
learning hip-hop dance. “I was actually a popular dancer, not a singer. Dancing was what I
was known for. Oh and I also love skating. I love it a lot. But I couldn’t do it for the past few
months,” she adds.
From an average teenager, Adithya has gone on to become a social media personality
owing to her success on Voice Teens. “I don’t feel like that this is reality now. In just one day
people got to know me. The comments that I got back, was a bit harsh sometimes. But

2. sometimes good,” Adithya said. “I’m just a girl. I want to keep my family happy and be
happy. That’s what matters at the end of the day. I only have them.”
Adithya clearly draws strength from her doting family. But at such a young age, her
experiences can lead to mounting pressure. “My mom wanted me to do everything. In the
sense, she wanted me to balance everything and be an all-rounder. She wanted me to do
my studies, my curriculum and sports.
So my mind was blank when I was going for Voice Teens. It’s just that I was passionate
about singing. I sang, it reached millions of people but I never thought such a thing would
happen,” the teenager recalled. Going in for the Voice Teens audition was just meant to
satisfy herself and her family, she said “That was it. Getting a reward for my mom is a huge
thing for me because she never compliments just like that. She’d never be like — Oh, my
god you sang well. When it comes to work, my mom is a bit tough because she wants the
best out of me.”
Adithya says her family chose tough love. Even though they’re not a musical or artistic
family, her siblings help her out when she doesn’t get it right. “My sister guides me through
everything. She’d tell me when I didn’t get a part of a song right. She’s critical. But my
brother doesn’t like my songs. He’s more into other forms of music and I have no idea what
that is,” Adithya laughed.
Not every step in her journey to becoming a musician has been pleasant. While attempting
to launch a musical career, Adithya is also a student who felt a lot of pressure. “In the
beginning it was not so. But later, with the stuff that I got, there were days I would cry so
much and felt like I just can’t sing!”
But this young musician believes in the power of positivity. “In a way sometimes I believe
that it’s good that it all happened because I’m much stronger now. I really have cool parents
and siblings and a few cool friends who stick around me. I don’t think I need much more
than that,” she said smiling.
Apart from the online hate posts, as the competition progressed, Adithya was seen pitted
against another contestant from the Voice. Comparisons began to surface, with Adithya
being the one to amass hate from trolls. The first thing that struck Adithya was that people
are not happy for others. Do you remember the first post that really affected you, I ask. She
has no memory of a single post, she said. “I actually don’t remember. Because it was that
many,” she said.
“You see, it’s so easy for people to do cyber bullying. In my perspective, I believe that
freedom of speech, freedom of expression is everyone’s basic human right. But you have no

3. right to peep into someone else’s personal life and attempt to breakdown someone else’s
dignity. Because everyone is unique, nobody’s perfect. Of course I do have faults. I’m still 16
years old, I’m still learning. I know till my last breath I have a lot of things to learn. But if we
take the time we spend on criticism, to destroy other people’s beauty? Why always complain
about what’s going on? Why don’t we try to see what’s beautiful instead,” Adithya asked. But
it can be exhausting, she added.
“Sometimes I feel there’s no point because people are not civilized. If we as a society think
about the other, we need to be happy for the other. That’s what I know because humanity is
the most important thing. But if all of us think twice as a nation, we can actually get rid of
this. I might be famous or whatever, but I just feel normal. What I want to see in people is to
see their good,” she stressed.
Watch it here = https://uii.io/YUi61