Triumphant Saipan performers return today

From left, Cire Durano, Erica Tubera, and Lawrence Tubera are scheduled to arrive today after competing at the 2018 World Championships of Performing Arts competition that was held in Long Beach, California. (Contributed Photo)

The three young talents who left Saipan early this month to represent the Marianas at the World Championships of Performing Arts are scheduled to return this week with accolades.

Early this month, Erica Tubera, Lawrence Tubera, and Cire Durano left Saipan and made the journey to Long Beach, California to represent the islands in the 2018 World Championships of Performing Arts where they went up against competitors from over 70 countries.

The trio is scheduled to return to the CNMI today and according to multiple posts they’ve made on their social media accounts, the trio has made the Marianas proud with the amount of awards they will bring home from the competition.

Erica Tubera will be returning home from WCOPA with two scholarships to the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts worth over $15,000.

Lawrence Tubera will be returning home from the WCOPA with a bronze medal in the Junior Vocal Broadway category, a silver medal in the Junior Vocal Pop category, and a gold medal in the Junior Vocal R&B/Soul/Jazz category.

Durano will be returning home from the WCOPA with a silver medal in the Open Style category.

According to Durano, if it weren’t for all the support that they received from friends, family, and especially the CNMI, they wouldn’t be able to venture out of the island they call home and chase their dreams.

“I’d like to say thank you to the Lord for guiding us all the way here [WCOPA] and especially Erica Tubera [if] not because of her I wouldn’t be able to make it here. Also to all my friends…my parents, and to our beloved governor Ralph DLG Torres [who] helped us the most, thank you so much. This [was] such a great experience,” he said.

Durano said that the best thing about their first WCOPA experience has to be the bond that all the competitors shared.

“The best thing about this trip [was] all the different countries treating each other like a family,” he said.

According to a previous article on the Saipan Tribune, Erica Tubera said that in the process of conducting a background check on her, the World Championships of Performing Arts also discovered her brother and her boyfriend [Durano].

“A few months ago, I saw an ad online about the World Championships of Performing Arts. I decided to go and register. A few days later, I got an email from the recruiter who asked more about me. She looked through my YouTube channel and my social media accounts there and found my brother, Lawrence, and also Cire. She did more of her research and she told me that she wanted them to join, too, but she will have to show our profiles to the agents to see if we meet the criteria to join this competition,” she said.