By Tengku Elena Tengku Mahamad

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia created history when the Malaysian team of 22 bagged 59 medals -- 38 gold, 16 silver and five bronze -- at the 13th World Championships of Performing Arts in Hollywood, Los Angeles, recently.

More than 40 countries, including Philippines, United States, Russia, Ireland and Canada participated in the championships held from July 11 to July 19.

The Malaysian team which participated in five categories -- vocal, music, dance, modelling and acting -- was led by Datuk Mohammed Mohd Daud, deputy secretary-general (Culture) of the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry,

"Last year, we targeted 20 gold medals and won 23. This year, we targeted 30 and won 38," said Mohammed.

Another feather in the cap was when Malaysia's Istana Budaya dance group, Aristana, was crowned Grand Champions of the World in the dance category.

According to one of the dancers, Ahmad Rafiandi Awang, 24, the group had competed in five categories -- Lyrical, Open, Ethnic and Folklore, Song and Dance and Musical Theatre.

"It took us more than three month to prepare for this championship," he said.

"One of the songs in the competition was Piring Endang for the Open category.

"It was a tough competition, but the most competitive countries were Ireland and Jamaica."

The 38 gold medals include seven from the vocal category won by Siti Sarah Raisuddin, Yusrizan Usop and Norhasmidar, Aristana for dance and Dilla Syahirah, Siti Nurizana and Wilson Tan for the modelling category.

Three Malaysians, Dilla, Wilson and Norhasmidar also won the Industry Award for the model and vocal category respectively.

Yusrizan, also known as Bob from the reality television show, Akademi Fantasia, won four gold medals for the Pop, Contemporary, World Music and Open category.

Bob sang My Baby for pop, The Prayer for contemporary, Zapin Beradat for world music, Cinta Terhalang for open and I Know Where I've Been for the R&B category

He also sang Unbreak My Heart with Siti Sarah and Bagaikan Sakti with Norhasmidah.

"The experience there (Los Angeles) was different compared to Malaysia. Everyone was very professional and punctual," explained Bob.

"It was quite a challenge because during the competition, the order of contestants was changed without warning to accommodate those who were participating in a different category so I had to get ready very quickly.

"I prepared for this competition from May. I found the contestants from Ireland, the Philippines, Canada, United States and South Africa were very talented."

Siti Sarah, on the other hand, sang Jelingan Manja for the Broadway category, I Turn To You for the Pop category and Dream for the R&B and Jazz category.

"It was very competitive as most of them were recording artistes, especially from the Philippines. They sent professional singers."

The World Championships of the Performing Arts is held annually for aspiring performers and entertainers aged between 5 and 60.

This year, only 27 countries out of 61 countries participated in the competition due to the influenza A (H1N1) virus and visa matters.

Selections were held in the United States, Canada, Caribbean, Central and South America, Europe, Asia and South Africa.

The competition is divided into six categories.

More than 100 judges from the entertainment industry were asked to select their choices before the main prizes are awarded.

The competition categories include dance, vocal, modeling, acting, instrumental and variety arts.

Each "act" was allocated 60 seconds to showcase their skills in the final competition.