I am never one to take credit for someone else’s success but then again, too much of modesty has got me nowhere, either. Over a year ago, one of my closest friends, Tiani, had recommended me as the arranger for a few of his acquaintances who would go with him to the World Championship of Performing Arts 2016 (WCOPA) in California. I was to arrange songs into strictly one-minute tracks, which I found odd at first, but then later realized the challenge in selecting the best parts of an existing song with nothing but your own artistic judgement. It was time to put my then newly acquired samples to the test. The creative process was swift, like it’s suppose to be when one’s enjoying his work. Only a few problems though; I had 5 singers to work for, each of them having more or less 4 songs, and to top it all, they’re all leaving in one month, not to mention the time they had to take to rehearse, you do the math.
After I finished all the arrangement, we set a few nights to rehearse, after all, I had to teach them the technicalities such as entrances, cut offs, pitch, etc., On these meetings, they took turns doing their act, eventually, Tiani, though a contestant like the rest, assumed coaching roles for the others, and consequently they allowed him that role out of respect. The reason for this, though not needed to be said, was obvious to everybody that night. Tiani had a voice that when unleashed, dominates the surrounding blast radius of 50 meters, as well as your soul. Unfortunately, days before team Philippines was about to leave, problems regarding Tiani’s papers kept him from going.
One year later, Tiani called once again with the very same purpose he had the previous year. He recommended me to two young singers, who are also sisters, both initialed HK, which is also the name of their duet act. Having met the adorable girls and no less adorable mother, I suggested to them that my girlfriend Kat would be their vocal coach immediately after finding out they were fans of the Madz, none of them, after all, had any major performing experiences yet. Unlike the previous year, I had far more singers to work for, but as it turned out, the amount of work I was to do didn’t diminish, each HK sister will be doing 5 songs for their solo act, and another 5 as a duet act. 15 songs with varying “genres”. I explained to them the ambiguities about these so called “genres” and how careful they had to select their songs. How WCOPA uses the word “genre” confused me for years, but that’s another topic altogether. And so a month later the work was done, and rehearsals commenced with Kat taking over, but with me still on the side making “side” comments (literally). Tiani attended rehearsals some nights. The HK sisters Hannah Korin, and Harrah Kay, blew me away, everybody in fact. At their young age, it sounded as though they have been singing for decades, tight and controlled. Me and Kat had to carefully nitpick at their tiniest mistakes hoping to leave them sharper than ever.
When all was done and they’re about to leave, the HKs were prepared for months now, Tiani on the other hand, was not. He changed one of his songs by the last minute, he did not have proper wardrobe yet, he had to make a lot of errands, he had to honor commitments to his job in an opera company, etc., he dealt with all of his problems in a single day but the problems only seemed to multiply because of that reason. Last day before leaving, he confided with me about all this, to which I said that these bad things might be a sign of something, be ready for something big.
When they finally left for America, everything was done, but not before Tiani messaged me again via Facebook while he was already stateside for yet again another last minute change of song! Luckily, I had time to deal with it immediately. I suspected that Tiani and I were treating this whole WCOPA gig with the same passive attitude; this whole thing will eventually pass as just another stint we use to be part of. Despite my huge faith in his ability.
Everything changed for him now, and apparently for the HKs.
Cristiani Rebada: Senior Grand Champion Performer of the world
Senior Grand Champion Vocalist of the World
Hannah Castillo: Junior Grand Champion Vocalist of the World