Visually impaired singer hauls medals in int’l singing tilt

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

 

BACOLOD City – Carl Malone Montecido, a visually impaired singer from this city, bagged medals when he represented Team Philippines in the World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) Virtual 2020 on Sunday.

Montecido, 21, competed for the first time against 70 participants from different countries around the world. He was a semi-finalist in the Senior Vocal category, and silver medalist in the 18-24 Senior Vocal Variety. He wowed the judges when he sang his own rendition of “I Don’t Want to Talk About It, ” popularized by Rod Steward.

Because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, participants in the virtual WCOPA 2020 were made to perform in their respective places, edit the video of their performance, and submit it for judging.

In his Facebook post, Montecido expressed his gratitude to the people who supported him all throughout his journey in the competition. He said he offered his WCOPA achievement to his wife Cris Khen and their son, who are his inspiration.

“My victory is not just for me but this is for all of us. I love you all. I’m still praying that this is just the start of our success,” he said. He also shared that he was thankful for the wonderful experience he had.

Montecido first rose to fame when he joined ABS-CBN’s Pilipinas Got Talent in 2010, It’s Showtime’s Tawag ng Tanghalan in 2016, and GMA’s The Clash in 2019.

Tagged as the Bacolod’s blind balladeer, he went viral on social media early this year when he did a cover of Sam Smith’s song entitled “Too Good at Goodbyes” at SM City Bacolod supermarket on February 5.

His talent also amused many people globally, reaching Smith, and even Kelly Clarkson, who expressed their admiration to him over Twitter.

He even received invites for local and foreign guestings in Thailand, Europe, United States, and Taiwan, among others, including from the Ellen DeGeneres show, a famous American talk show.