The Cebuana 'Awiting Wicked' singers who met Ariana and Cynthia

Cebuana singers Fatima Soria and Pia Casing were both going through life-changing experiences when they were announced as part of the three duos who won the “Awiting Wicked: For Good” contest by Universal Pictures Philippines, in which they had the chance to meet Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo up close at the Singapore premiere of “Wicked: For Good” last November 13.

- By JANUAR JUNIOR AGUJA

Soria's work contract at a theme park in China had just wrapped up, and she is staying in the Philippines to look for work opportunities for next year. Meanwhile, Casing was recovering from an arm injury after a freak accident during a vacation in Bali.

They both happened to be in Cebu when they saw an opportunity to record their audition tape, performing a duet of “For Good” at a Wicked-themed booth at SM Seaside Cebu.

“Our schedules are aligned every time. Our pairing was really meant to be,” Casing told The FREEMAN.

Casing was encouraged by her friends to join the contest, though she didn’t know anyone to duet with until she saw Soria’s vlog, where she sang. That was when Casing realized Soria would be the perfect partner, seeing the contest as an opportunity to catch up after not seeing each other for a long time.

They were schoolmates at Sacred Heart School-Hijas de Jesus, though they wouldn’t cross paths until they joined the school choir, where they became friends.

“Before this ‘Wicked’ thing, we didn’t have a lot of opportunities where we could do a duet because we are mostly in a group,” Casing said. “We were just admiring each other from afar. We have a lot of devotion towards our art, though Fatima would go into the theater scene, and I am more of an opera singer. No frills, we are here for the music, and we align so much in that regard.”

Soria was inspired to become a singer after being a fan of Disney musicals, admiring Lea Salonga, and joining the school’s theater club, where she got her first leading role as Mulan. While wanting to pursue the arts, she ended up taking a business degree at the University of San Carlos for practicality. Still, she didn’t abandon her love for the arts, which helped her understand how to pitch herself as a theater actress.