The Junior Grand Champion of the World title at the 2026 World Championships of Performing Arts has gone to a Filipino-American performer based in Dubai, capping a competition run that produced 14 gold medals across singing, dance, acting and modeling.
Celine Madison Matondo took the junior division’s highest honor at the championships, held July 13 to 21 at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. She also earned a scholarship to the New York Film Academy.
Her gold medals spanned nearly every category the competition offers. In dance, she won gold in open solo, hip-hop and open duo. In vocals, she took gold in country and western, pop solo, contemporary solo and original works solo, along with group golds in contemporary, open, Broadway, original works and self-accompanied pop. She added gold in dramatic acting and in spokesmodel competition.
She placed second in self-accompanied contemporary group and Broadway vocals, earning silver in both, and took bronze in jazz solo, song-and-dance solo and rock solo.
She was also named Division Champion in three categories: open group as part of the ECS Singers, vocal contemporary with the Power Trio, and modeling.
The championships draw performers from more than 70 countries and are frequently described as the Olympics of the performing arts. Contestants compete across acting, dance, music, variety arts and modeling, advancing through preliminary and semi-final rounds before the closing Grand Finale, where division winners contend for the championship titles.
The Westgate is a venue with its own performance history — the property, formerly the International Hotel, staged residencies by Elvis Presley, Liberace and Barbra Streisand before becoming the championships’ home.
For the young performer, the Las Vegas results follow a competition record built largely in the UAE. She has won school and community talent titles in Dubai across both singing and dance, placed as a finalist at the World Supremacy Battleground dance contest, and took the Grand Prix Supreme Best Talent award at the Golden Star Kids International competition in Antalya, Turkey. She competed at I-SING World in Toronto, finishing as first runner-up.
The New York Film Academy scholarship is among the awards the championships offer alongside cash prizes and professional development opportunities, positioning winners for training beyond the competition circuit.
