T&T’s Kielan Jacob delivers at World Championship

On Wednesday 20th July 2022, Kielan Jacob left Trinidad on a flight to California to perform at the 25th Anniversary of the World Championship of Performing Arts (WCOPA). She was one of the members of Team Trinidad and Tobago WCOPA lead by National Director, Candice Clarke. Kielan’s aim was to dazzle the judges in hopes of receiving a scholarship to study Music. Spoiler Alert: she topped her category 16-17 in Original Works with Self Accompaniment and Original Works (She wrote and sung her own songs), as well as got a Partial Talent Based Scholarship from the New York Film Academy to start in 2023. She even has an upcoming interview with the Artistic Artists Agency (a Talent Agency).
The WCOPA is an international competition often cited as the Official “Talent Olympics” for aspiring performers and entertainers. It opened with a highly anticipated Parade of Nations at Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. Kielan, her teammates, the National Director, Candice Clarke, and their supporters all donned the traditional red, white, and black uniforms to parade with over 70 other licensed countries that took part in the WCOPA. Along the parade route, stages are set-up for a variety of international entertainment.

The preliminaries began on Monday 25th July and Kielan participated in three categories within the singing competition: Self Accompaniment with Instrument, Original Song and Vocal- Cover. The judges for this competition place special emphasis on entertainment and marketability, not just technical skills. There was also a time limit for the performances, so Kielan had to wow the judges within 60 seconds. And wow them she did! She performed at the Semis on Wednesday 27th July and won 2 silver medals for Original Works for her song and Original Works with Self Accompaniment. No Gold medals were awarded in those categories.

One of the most anticipated events for WCOPA is the Boot Camp, a full day event of instruction and workshops taught by renowned entertainment industry professionals in the areas of music, dance, acting, modelling and variety arts. This year, the music training included professional vocal coaches Seth Riggs and Romeo Johnson and producers Jeff Weber and Marc Williams. The Talent Management portion of the Boot Camp is also very important, some of the instructors included Susie Mains:  Talent manager representing actors in “Scorpion,” “Spiderman,” “Max 2,” Nickolodeon’s “School of Rock” and for Stacy Ferguson. She has been a guest on “The Dr. Phil Show” and “Entertainment Tonight” and Wendy Alane Wright:  Talent manager whose clients have appeared on TV shows such as “Modern Family,” “Blackish,” “American Horror Story,” “Extant,” “Sharp Objects” and “Henry Danger.”
Kielan, like most contestants of the WCOPA, also looked forward to Go-Sees. The Go-Sees took place on Wednesday 27th July, and, to Kielan’s surprise and excitement, she was invited to five (5) go-sees with industry specialists (in film and acting). The Go-Sees are where a lot of the magic happens, and, in Kielan’s case, the moment where she secured her Partial Talent Based Scholarship from the New York Film Academy as well as her upcoming interview with the Artistic Artists Agency.
T&T’s Kielan Jacob has made her country proud by bravely taking her abilities to the World Championship of Performing Arts, showing out with her talent in singing, song writing and acting, bringing home 2 Silver medals, all while securing a future in the creative arts. Great things are in store for Kielan.
To learn more about the World Championship of Performing Arts, visit www.wcopa.com.

About Kielan Jacob
Kielan is an aspiring 16-year-old singer songwriter from Trinidad and Tobago. She has published about 5 original songs. She started singing in primary school choir and this is where her love for writing songs materialized. She competed with her first original song at age 12 and is currently the 2021 title holder of the LaBrea Agenda competition with an original composition ‘Little Star’.