Pinky Mari and Christian Cayobit show their World Championship medals. |Contributed photo by Christian Cayobit
CEBU CITY, Philippines — It is more fulfilling to achieve your dreams with the one you love.
That is what happened to Cebuano singer Christian Cayobit and his girlfriend Pinky Mari who bagged medals during the recently concluded World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) 2019 in Long Beach, California.
Their love story started when both joined separate episodes of “Tawag ng Tanghalan,” a singing competition of ABS-CBN’s noontime show, “It’s Showtime” back in 2018 in Manila.
Cayobit was one of the contenders from the Visayas that time.
He then became part of a group chat for “Tawag ng Tanghalan” finalists where Mari was also part of.
Unexpectedly, Cayobit found Mari’s Facebook account in that group chat.
“It was because of her smile and curly hair,” he answered when asked what caught his attention first.
The Cebuano singer did not hesitate to send a private message to Mari who also works as a court stenographer at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Manila.
“I answered right away on his message because I saw him in the group (chat). I gave him the benefit of the doubt, and he is a good man,” Mari said.
Both WCOPA 2019 medalists agreed to become an official couple on March 24, 2018.
Journey to WCOPA 2019
Their WCOPA journey began in September 2018 at SM Southmall in Las Pinas City.
“It was my dream to join WCOPA, and I convinced Pinky to join,” Cayobit said.
Mari, 41, said she did not expect to audition because all she wanted was to be Cayobit’s assistant.
But since she is an obedient girlfriend, Mari joined the audition and both qualified to join the WCOPA 2019 which was held in Long Beach, California from July 12 to 21, 2019.
“We balanced everything to make sure that both of us could join WCOPA 2019,” she said.
Both did not fail their missions as they brought home medals for the Philippines.
Cayobit, 28, and a native of Barangay Punta Princesa, Cebu City bagged two silver medals under the Vocal Solo Category for the contemporary and opera genres.
He performed “Where do I Begin” by Andy Williams (Contemporary) and “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban (Opera).
For Mari, she also bagged a silver medal for the Vocal Solo Category for the broadway genre where she sang, “Memory” from the Cats Musical.
“It is very overwhelming, and we felt truly gratified because both of us have medals and it is a double victory. Walang iwanan (we never left each other),” she said.
Their journey together was not easy. They had each other especially on managing finances, choices of songs, and strategies to make it WCOPA.
During the competition in Long Beach, California, both continued to help each other.
“We played ‘alalay’ for each other. Pag schedule ko, alalay siya. Pag schedule niya, alalay ako. Dinadala ko mga gamit niya to make sure na kakanta lang talaga siya, naka relax at at naka focus sa performance niya,” Mari said.
(We helped each other. If it was his time to perform, I became his assistant. If it was my turn to perform, he also helped me. I carried his things just to make sure that he would only perform, relaxed, and focused on his performance.)
After winning the competition together, both will continue to help each other grow in the music industry — to increase their worth and growth as artists./dbs