Bohol Island News Staff | Posted on Aug. 3, 2020, at 1:05 p.m.
Three Boholanos bagged different awards as they made it to the World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA), the only Olympic-Style Talent and Performance Competition of the world.
The team from Bohol composed of Leoniso Simbajon and siblings Leirashir Cagas Sanchez and Ishrazael Cagas Sanchez got medals for the different categories of the said competition.
Simbajon competed under Senior Vocal Solo (Pop); Leirashir for Senior Modeling, Dance and Vocal Solo; and Ishrazael for Junior Vocal Solo (Broadway/Musical, Modeling and Dance Solo).
Ishrazael got gold medals for Broadway/Musical and Junior Modeling and silver for Junior Dance Solo while her sibling Leirashir got silver medals for Senior Dance Solo and Senior Modeling.
Simbajon also got a bronze medal for Senior Vocals (Pop).
There were also three Cebuanos who completed the 6-talent delegation from Region VII. They were Maria Flora Mahusay of Mandaue City; Natalie Jeans Bragat of Lapu-Lapu City and Patricia Kaye Lumahang of also of Lapu-Lapu City.
Mahusay competed for Senior Vocal Solo (Broadway/Musical); Bragat for Junior Vocal Solo (Broadway/Musical); and Lumahang for Senior Vocal Solo (World).
Mahusay won a silver medal for Senior Vocals (Broadway/Musical) while Bragat won a silver medal for Junior Vocals (Broadway/Musical).
Lumahang got a bronze medal for Senior Vocals (World).
WCOPA is an annual search for global talents and performers and this year’s event would have been held in Anaheim, California, USA. However, it was canceled due to the COVID19 pandemic and was eventually converted to a world-wide virtual competition.
Here in the Philippines, the auditions ran from end of September to early November. Cebu had its turn last November 10, 2019, wherein a hundred hopefuls showcased their group and individual talents before the screening committee, composed of the National Director, MR. GERRY MERCADO, Creative Director, MS. ANNIE MERCADO, together with other bona fide alumni of WCOPA Philippines.
Out of the more than 100 hopefuls, 56 made to the cut and but only six pursued their dreams of becoming world-class performers through WCOPA.
On July 26, 2020, WCOPA held the Virtual Grand Opening and Traditional Parade of Nations participated in by more than 40 countries. Each delegate from around the world showcased his/her national costume that would best tell a story of their country of origin and represent the country itself. Respectively, the judging and casting of votes of the Judges’ Choice and the Fan Favorite ran until the morning of July 28, 2020. In the evening, the results were virtually announced and the Philippines garnered the
Best Team National Costume and Individual Judges’ Choice awards while Mahusay was awarded as the Fan Favorite (voted via Facebook).
On July 27, 2020, the delegates attended the virtual boot camps, with speakers and coaches, who are star builders, artists, and directors from Hollywood entertainment and performance industries. The boot camps were held to help further the preparations of the delegates and make them more confident in their performances.
On July 28, 2020, the competition proper started. Judges of the different events in the competitions, one by one, watched the virtual performances of all delegates from the different participating countries and on July 29, 2020, the semifinalists were announced, dominated by the Philippine delegation. They are Mahusay- Senior Vocal; Bragat- Junior Vocal; Leirashir – Senior Modeling & Senior Dance Solo and Ishrazael – Junior Modeling, Dance Solo and Vocal. Immediately their virtual performances were judged anew by a modified set of judges, to determine who goes to the Final Show/Competition.
Although no one from the Region VII delegation made it to the Grand Finals on July 31, there is still enough reason to celebrate with the medals and awards they received. (With PR)
