Voice of the Millennium stages tonight in Dauis

THEY could be breeding the future Jerome Sala or Jasmine Trias. For sure, the nightly presentations ushering in the grand night on the feastday of the Lady of the Assumption helps the people look back at the glorious past. Voices of the millennium may be the hippest thing tonight as the best singers across the province are to show rare vocal virtuosity while contesting each other's vocal ranges at the Dauis Poblacion Stage.

The vocal solo contest, open to all male or female aspirants, 12-16 years old shall be judged as to who can hold the crowd gaping in a spell with a Cebuano-based Visayan songs. The Voice of the Millennium is the Local Government's share of putting in similarly themed cultural showcases which has been the thread connecting all the nightly presentations in preparation for the grand event on the fiesta eve. Pre-auditioned contestants in costumes that fit their songs would sing with live or recorded accompaniment, organizers said. Winners could be P2T. P1.5T or P1T richer while organizers also set aside P1.4T as consolation give-aways. As the fiesta nightly preparations here pick up in pace, this year offers none of the toilet humor that accompanies the merriment of the feast of the Assumption.

For a change, the Assumption of our Lady Shrine elders believe the season of the nightly presentations could even be more enhanced with different cultural competitions that reconnect the people to the history of old town Dauis, said Rev. Fr. Val Pinlac in a radio interview recently. Aside from getting recognized as the best in the fields of Comparsa, Harana, Balitaw, Vocal Solo and live band for the musical competitions, winners could be singing their way home thousands of pesos richer with organizers pooling prizes even for non-winners. Beyond that, a test of skills and grace on the dance floor puts about 20 teams of two pairs competing for the best Kuradang and Kuracha fare. Best teams could be P3T pesos richer while flaunting the best of sways.

The grounds at the back of the shrine became a fitting performance area for the comparza competition last August 8 as sponsored by local resorts. Winners each romped away with P7T, P5T and P3T for the top places while non winners still picked P2100 each for their performance. The old Spanish Convent, centuries old tower and the splendid grounds also witnessed the romance of old and often time forgotten love songs when the best of at least 5 haranistas per group crooned with Visayan and tagalog favorite tunes August 9. The night was sponsored by the assumption Parish Pastoral Council. The nightly activities shifted to the Poblacion stage for the open Balitaw love duet on August 10. Like the harana, balitaw winners took home P3T, P2T and P1T with non-winners taking home P1400 incentives.

Last Friday, a cultural showcase of dances brought by the teachers shook the Poblacion stage with the non-contest presentation of Boholano and national dancers depicting cultural traces from across the islands. Last night, still at the Poblacion Stage, as if in glaring dare to the teachers who performed splendid numbers, the contests resumed with the Visayan Kuradang and the Kuracha competitions. About 16T worth of prizes were given to the two traditional dance competitions.

For Monday evening, the showcase of bands load the amplifiers with the beat, though not the usual rap or rock music would be there. A group of at least 5 musicians using 4 different instruments would be performing classical and traditional songs or dance tunes, definitely nothing of the rhythm and blues stuff. Each group performs for a minimum of five minutes but not more than 10 minutes, organizers said. For the eight nights and seven musical and dance competitions, a total of P84,500 prizes were given away. On top of all this, expect dazzling fireworks display on the 15th at 6:00 at the church plaza. With Dauis again leading the way to a new kind of showcase in culture, it may not be far when such loftier arts and culture competitions become a nightly fare for all towns aspiring to draw more on cultural tourism.

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