After a month-long search, CIMB Bank Philippines has selected the two Filipinos who are one step closer to their dream of performing on the global stage. Through the CIMB Rising Start singing contest, finalists Gwen Arada from Batangas City and Marvin Ilagan from Bulacan stood out from around 50 online entries and emerged victorious against the top 10 in-person auditionees. CIMB Rising Start is the local rollout of the regional competition spearheaded by CIMB Niaga in Indonesia called CIMB Kejar Mimpi Rising Start Contest.
Kejar mimpi in Bahasa means ‘chasing dreams,’ which the Pinoy finalists will indeed be doing as they fly to Jakarta at the end of July to compete at the regional CIMB Kejar Mimpi Rising Start Contest. Each finalist showcased their singing prowess to impress the panel of judges composed of singer-songwriter duo Leanne & Naara alongside some members of CIMB PH’s leadership team. Aside from the all-expense-paid trip to Jakarta, the Philippine representatives will also receive PHP 10,000 each and appear in the Kejar Mimpi song “Make It Happen” music video.
They will be competing with other representatives from Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia for a chance to be one of the top three winners who will qualify for the grand finals and take home up to IDR 35 million (over PHP 120,000) in prizes and sing onstage alongside Asia’s biggest stars in the Kejar Mimpi concert in August in Solo, Indonesia.
In line with its mission to empower Filipinos to live their life purpose, CIMB Bank PH, the most awarded digital-only commercial bank in the country, continues to find ways to empower Filipinos to live their purpose through initiatives like CIMB Rising Start. This singing competition is fully supported by CIMB Group, the 5th largest bank in the ASEAN with presence in ASEAN, Greater China, and the United Kingdom.
Find out in August if Filipino talent will emerge victorious!