Victory against all odds

The Filipino singers have done it again: Once more, they brought home tons of prizes from the recently-concluded World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) in Hollywood, California.

Last year, through the efforts of Ida Henares, assistant vice president/head of the GMA Artist Center and now national director for WCOPA Philippines, the country was able to send two delegates, Rizza Navales and Jed Madela, who won in all the categories they competed in – plus the overall championship trophy (the biggest winner in the competition) brought home by Madela.

In the 2006 WCOPA, Henares was able to bring more delegates to the competition and Team Philippines bagged a total of 86 awards: 35 gold medals, 12 silver, six bronze, nine industry gold medals, 21 overall champion plaques and one grand champion trophy.

Just like what happened last year, bringing to the WCOPA two delegates already proved to be a Herculean task. This time, they had and two days before departure, they were still scrounging for sponsorship to cover the expenses of some of the contestants. Jess de la Cruz of InfoServe came to the rescue of Dex de Rosa by paying for the delegates’ airfare.

RRJ also donated bags and caps and Crimson gave light white jackets to serve as uniform for Team Philippines and this was just perfect because the heat in America last month during the competition was at its most oppressive. Lou Gopez of Artist Center also found a retractable flagpole – in lieu of the broomstick used last year – that they used to wave the Philippine flag with as members of Team Philippines walked on stage during the parade of nations.

Budget for Jonalyn Viray and Brenan Espartinez’s trip was approved only two days before departure.

Ida Henares is also forever grateful to the US Embassy in Manila for facilitating very efficiently the visas of all the Philippine delegates to the WCOPA.

Other companies and individuals who helped put together Team Philippines were ABS Herbal products, PAGCOR, FunSide Bar, PAL, Nation Link, PLDT, Dad’s Restaurant, David So, Mike Chiong, Jets Battung, Jenny Donato, Freddie Santos, GMA Pinoy TV and GMA Artist Center.

While the delegates were in the US, Nemi Rafanan also flew in from Las Vegas and became Team Philippines’ official hairstylist. Joseph Santos and Carl Hancock of L.A. also hosted dinner for the delegates and facilitated transportation services for the group.

During the WCOPA opening ceremonies at the Hollywood Palladium, Ida Henares gave a short message before the huge crowd gathered at the venue. She said: "Of course, we are here to compete. But we are also here to have fun, gain new friends, learn new things and most importantly honor the Lord with our voices and talents." That became the most applauded speech in the entire proceedings.

While competitions were in full swing, the members of Team Philippines encountered problems here and there. Rachel Alejandro, during Round 2, was all dressed up fabulously, except that she forgot to bring her shoes and had to go barefoot on stage.

Jeremie Antiporda got stuck in Hong Kong because of a typhoon, ended up traveling for 54 hours and arrived at the hotel in L.A. at 3 a.m. The worst part was that her luggage got stuck in Hong Kong and what she had was only her jogging outfit. She was able to borrow a Filipiniana costume, all right, but this came only after the parade of nations, which she missed totally.

Dex de Rosa’s name was initially eliminated on the list of second round qualifiers – but this turned out to be an error on the part of the organizers. Ida fortunately was able to check this because she had faith in his talent and knew that he couldn’t have been eliminated that easily. He had to be sent to the hotel and get dressed in a rush so he could come back for the next round.

There were other little problems the delegates had to encounter – like Brenan and Jonalyn’s CD disappearing as they were about to go on stage (Brenan had to rush back and get a backup CD and came out panting) – but in the end, Team Philippines impressed everyone, including Team USA that had 2,000 delegates.

The following qualified for the Grand Finals: Jonalyn Viray and Brenan Espartinez (Senior Vocal Duet Category); Jeremie Antiporda (Senior Vocal Solo Category); Kim Flores (Junior Vocal Solo Category) and the Cercado Sisters (Junior Vocal Group Category). Among the finalists from Team Philippines, the Cercado Sisters bagged top honors by winning the Grand Championship Junior Vocal Group Category.

The rest of the members of Team Philippines who are medallists and special awards winners are the following: Jon Joven, Dex de Rosa, Jennifer Bautista, Rachel Alejandro, Juaquin Tungol, Bim Mangubat, the Siblings and Faith Cuneta for Vocals, Angelo Ortiz and Glenn Cadampong for Instrumentals and Rommel Luna for acting.