Singer Jed Madela will return to the World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) as a judge; he was grand champion in the vocal category of WCOPA in 2005.

By REYMA BUAN-DEVEZA
abs-cbnNEWS.com

International
performer Jed Madela said that he will be one of the judges for 2008
World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) that will be held at the
Universal CityWalk, Hollywood and Westin Bonaventure, Los Angeles this
coming July 19 to 27.

Madela, the first Filipino who won the
“Grand Champion Vocalist of the World" in 2005 will fly to US not only
to judge the talent search but also to perform for the said prestigious
event.

"Once tumuntong na ako sa US hindi na ako pwedeng
makipag-usap sa mga contestants kasi magja-judge na ako. But aside from
judging ay magpe-perform din ako," Madela said.

Madela is set to leave the country July 11 after his birthday concert that will be held in Manila.

Madela
proudly said that as a Filipino performer he supports the team
Philippines headed by Mr. Carlo Orosa and Mr. Oliver Oliveros,  as the
country's directors of the WCOPA.

In an interview with
abs-cbnNEWS.com, Oliveros said that members of the Philippine team are
now preparing for the event. Oliveros said that roster of performers
for the Philippine team is final and no changes will be made.

"Oo final na 'yon what we've presented yesterday (July 4) is the final members of the Philippines team," Oliveros said.

He added that the country's delegation for WCOPA will be leaving for US starting July 10.

"Sinabihan
namin sila na agahan para maka-acclimatize sila sa weather, baka hindi
sila sanay sa weather,  kasi yung iba first time na makakapunta doon,"
the director added.

The Philippines official delegates for this
year’s "Hollywood Olympics,” will be an “all-vocalists” team with eight
junior contestants (age 15 and below), and seven senior contestants
(age 16 and above).

For the Junior contestants, we have
Catherine Loria, a singer from Lucena City; Cherry Palad, a Trumpets
Playshop alumna; Glee Nette Gaddi, the Department of Tourism’s delegate
to the 2007 Korea Travel Fair in Seoul; Rachel Razon, a Fil Am pop and
R&B vocalist; Marek, Enzo, and Ruiz Sison, musical theater actors
seen in the local production of Off Broadway hit musical “Children’s
Letters to God;” and Tippy dos Santos, 'Belle' in Ateneo Children’s
Theater’s (ACT) production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

For
the senior contestants, we havez CJ Concepcion, a singing nurse from
Manila; Dex de Rosa, 'Thuy' in the Australian production of Cameron
Mackintosh’s “Miss Saigon;” Abe Dorado, a Filipina singer based in
Milan, Italy; King, a Star Records’ recording artist; Marielle Corpuz,
a singer from Nueva Ecija; Panky Trinidad, former scholar of ABS CBN’s
“Pinoy Dream Academy Season 1"; and Paolo Ledesma, 3rd Avenue band’s
lead vocalist.

The country's contestants  were among around
75,000 performers (singers, dancers, models, actors, etc.) who
auditioned globally for this year’s WCOPA.

WCOPA is the first
and only international series of competitions that seek to find and
crown the best aspiring performing artists on earth.

The
talent search, which is now on it's 12th year, was founded by Griff
O'Neil in 1996. It's an "Olympics-style" competition in which singers
compete only against other singers, dance groups compete only against
other dance groups, and so on.

For the vocal category, it is
made clear that each contestant can only sing his/her piece for 60
seconds. If one exceeds, 25 percent will be deducted to his/her final
score.

Vocalists are grouped in two divisions according to age -- the juniors, age 15 and below, the seniors, 16 and above.

And
there are subgroups in each division. Contestants in the junior
division are grouped from 8 to 10 years old, 11 to 12 and 13 to 15. The
senior division: 16 to 17, 19 to 24, 25 to 29, 30 and above.

Contestants have to go through four gruelling rounds of competition

Round
One is when contestants compete in their respective age brackets.
Bronze, silver, gold medals and industry awards are special citations
given out.

Round Two, the winning contestants from a particular
age group compete with those in other age brackets. The over-all
winners' plaques are special awards given out.

Round Three is when grand finalists are selected.

In
the Final Round, there are usually about four to five grand finalists
per category, Grand Champions of the World are chosen according to
their respective categories like singing, dancing, modeling, and so on.


Only four Filipino delegates won the “Grand Champion Vocalist
of the World” title in the last three years: Jed Madela in 2005, The
Cercado Sisters in 2006, Reymond Sajor and Aria Clemente in 2007.

Also
in the Final Round, only two will be chosen as Over-All Grand Champions
of the World, one from the junior division and the other from the
senior division. Jed Madela in 2005 and Aria Clemente in 2007 bagged
the “Grand Champion Performer of the World” title in their respective
divisions. With a report from Oliver Oliveros and ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda.