Cebuanos who represented the Philippines in the WCOPA 2019. At the back is John Willace Tubalde. At the front are (from left) Vingenr Tan, Majolica Santos, Erneville Vinculado, and Christian Cayobit. | Contributed photo
Cebu City, Philippines—It is time for another group of Cebuanos to represent the country for the World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA).
Vingenr Tan, assisting officer for WCOPA Cebu, confirmed to CDN Digital that the online registration is now ongoing for the WCOPA 2020 delegation.
For the Cebu auditions, Tan said the announcement of date and venue will soon follow.
Last July 2019, five Cebuanos were part of the WCOPA Philippine team. They were Tan, Majolica Santos, John Willace Tubalde, Erneville Vinculado, and Christian Cayobit.
Read: Cebuano singers bag medals for PH in World Championships of Performing Arts
Tan advised the aspiring Cebuano singers to join if they are prepared to compete.
“When you have done everything that is needed to be done and your critics say that you are good then now is the right time for you to join,” he said.
Tan, 40, joined the Senior Male Vocals category during the WCOPA 2019 held in Long Beach, California from July 12 to 21, 2019.
He took home two golds for the Opera and Performance in a Group Production, silver medal for Broadway, and bronze for Latin.
His winning songs are “Stars” (from Les Miserables) for Opera and Broadway, “When You Wish Upon A Star” (Disney Medley) for Group Production, and “Livin Lavida Loca” (Ricky Martin)
for Latin.
According to WCOPA’s official Facebook page, the competition is an annual event where singers, musicians, dancers, variety artists, actors and models from 60 countries will compete.
It is a “one-and-only, Olympic-style international meet for aspiring performers and entertainers is held annually in the “Hollywood” area, entertainment capital of the world.”
Aside from Tan, Vinculado also shared tips to the Cebuano applicants.
“It is very important to have a connection to audience and judges and to create your own style of music that they will recognize you,” she said.
For her, WCOPA is not only looking for singers, dancers, instrumentalists, actors, and models but world-class performers.
Vinculado bagged silver medal for the Vocal Solo Category for the Contemporary genre. Her winning piece was “I Believe” by Fantasia.
Another WCOPA 2019 medalist also shared pieces of advice to Cebuano dreamers to have faith in themselves.
“Show to the world how talented Filipinos are and that the Philippines is a team to beat for,” Cayobit said.
A native of Barangay Punta Princesa, Cebu City, Cayobit clinched 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). /bmjo