14-y.o. Kazakhstani amazes Hollywood

Vanessa Bezrodnaya, a 14-year-old girl from Semey, western Kazakhstan has become the prize winner of the World Championship of Performing Arts, held in Hollywood, California on July 11-19, Tengrinews reports citing East Kazakhstan's news center.

Vanessa earned gold medal in Vocal World, Vocal Pop and Vocal Rock categories, silver in Vocal Original Works, and bronze in Modeling Swimwear category. In addition, the young talent received the largest number of offers from the producers.

At the competition, the young singer performed four songs, including Kazakh folk song Muny nege bilmeisin (Why don't you know that).

"The championship was very successful for us. For the first time in 18 years, a representative of Kazakhstan made it to the final round of the championship in the vocals and became the absolute champion in the Vocal Pop and Vocal Rock categories. Vanessa was one of the few participants who entered the final round of the championship in both singing and modeling  (two nominations - Casual and Evening Wear)," Vanessa's mother Irina Bezrodnaya said.

"The competition uses the Olympic system of selection. During the first qualifying day, 3,000 participants out of a total of 5,000 made it to the next round. In the second - even less, in the semifinals - 300-500 participants, and only seven people qualified for the finals. And Vanessa was one of those few who reached the finals," the girl's mother said.

Irina told Tengrinews that the young singer had not yet agreed to any of producers' offers, and the she is cooperating with Swedish composer and producer Johan Jämtberg, who wrote two songs for Vanessa. According to Irina, after graduating from high school Vanessa may pursue a career in the United States of America.

The World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) is the first and only international competition that aims to find the best aspiring performing artists worldwide. The contest which is held annually in Hollywood, California is often referred to as the 'Olympics of the Performing Arts'.

Like the Olympics, the best aspiring competitors from every country are qualified and invited. Thereafter, the official contestants from over 40 countries compete in six categories of the competition: acting, dancing, singing, modeling, instrumentalists, and variety arts.

The participants are divided by age into Juniors (ages 5 – 15) and Seniors (16 and over).

In the competition, singers compete only against other singers, dance groups compete only against other dance groups and etc.

A winner is selected in each performance category, for both Juniors and Seniors, over a week long elimination process.

Once at the finals, 16 celebrity judges select a champion from among the top 3-4 performers in each category and both age groups. Of the eight category winners, a Junior and Senior Grand Champion Performer of the World is selected and awarded.

By Assel Satubaldina