Another Ilonggo made it big in the world stage by winning multiple medals and Champion of the World plaque in a prestigious international competition held in California, USA.
John Bryan Carnaje recently represented Iloilo City as part of Team Philippines for 23rd World Championship of the Performing Arts (WCOPA) held at Long Beach Performing Arts Center in Long Beach, California, USA this July 12-21, 2019.
Cited as the Olympics of the performing arts, WCOPA is an annual event which gathers singers, musicians, dancers, variety artists, actors and models from 65 countries to compete before judges from the entertainment industry.
Carnaje wins Gold Medal in Country and Western Category, Silver Medal in Latin Category, Bronze Medal for Original Works Category and the 2019 Champion of the World plaque in his Division.
Carnaje said that his WCOPA win is a realization of his dream of competing in an international competition.
“I humbly offer these to the Philippines and to many of my supporters and benefactors who strongly believed in my talent,” he posted in Facebook. “The journey culminated in a situation where I have to deconstruct everything about myself from revisiting my talent, polishing, training, and networking with relevant trainers and colleagues in the same field and begin again from scratch.”
He is hoping that his victory will be an inspiration for others. “I hope my experience will serve a drop of positive energy for all of you today, that no matter what you are going through, you can always move forward with the ray of sunshine at your back and rise above the stars that used to be your vision from afar.”
Iloilo’s very own Jed Madela paved the way for Ilonggo talents to shine in annual WCOPA competition. Madela was the first “Grand Champion Performer of the World” from the Philippines, winning the coveted title in 2005! That year, he won all the major industry awards in addition to capturing the top crown.
Madela was honored with WCOPA Lifetime Achievement Award and inducted into Performing Arts Hall of Fame in 2013.
