KUALA LUMPUR: The niece of the famous singer, Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza, Ummi Umairah Saiful Anuar, 13, has qualified for the final stage of the 27th World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center in California, USA, happening this Saturday.
The happy news was shared by a teenager better known as Umairah via her Instagram account.
Meanwhile, Umairah's mother, Siti Sairah Taruddin, asked for prayers from Malaysians that her son would succeed in bringing home the medal, thereby bringing glory to the country.
"In the first round, Umairah competed in five categories, namely Contemporary, Open, R&B, World and Variety, and successfully advanced to the semi-finals of the R&B category.
"Umairah will perform the same song, A Natural Woman, for the final stage this Friday (in the US).
"Umairah advanced to the final stage for the 13-to-15-year-old category. It is understood that Umairah will compete with three other contestants," said Umairah's mother, Siti Sairah Tarudin, to BH Online today.
"Of course I want to see Umairah succeed in making the country proud and bring home a medal, thus proving that she has her own talent.
"Alhamdulillah, Umairah has been able to cope with the pressure since arriving in LA on June 28.
"Feeling nervous is normal for a singer, not to mention, in a competition. So, please pray for Umairah to succeed," she said in the news report.
The final results will be announced this Sunday.
Aside from Umairah, other Malaysian contestants who also made it to the finals include Aleysha and Ryan for the Duet category, Dion Das and Ryan Zachary (Modeling), Dance Duo Group (Duo Dance) and Vanessa William (Solo Dance).
A total of 15 participants represented the country in various categories at the 27th edition of the tournament organised every year in Hollywood.