Each contest has its lure, but when a competition turns into a show and is watched with enthusiasm by an audience entirely composed of children, a magical and exciting atmosphere, full of light, is created. A dynamic and harmonious show, in which music and choreography were woven with diversity in a nice collage, enchanted more than 200 anxious and good-time spectators on Monday morning (December 12^th, 2011). During a magical hour I left myself carried by a childhood dream together with a lot of pupils who had come to watch Children and the Mirage of the Competition, the most recent premiere of the Children's Comic Opera that could be seen on the stage of the former "Giulesti" Theatre, the current host of the Comic Opera. The moderators of this show were the artists Nicolae Lupu, Andrei Lazar, Valentino Tiron and Daniel Filipescu.

More details on this show initiative and the benefits brought by this new stage perfomance , we are told by Smaranda Oteanu-Bunea, the founding director of the Children's Comic Opera, who celebrated its birthday on December 12^th. As usual, we found her in the performance hall, watching with contentment and satisfaction the show she had prepared together with the artists and the team she was leading.

How was this show initiated?

We had an entertainment show, a mosaic called The Spring of the Magnolias, highly successful, with arias from operas, with canzonets with modern and incendiary dances. We also had another show on the same topic, called Summer Royal. For the first time, a show for children was created. It is actually a musical, which is based on the Romanian traditional "batute", therefore from the ethnic dances, passing through Romanian famous dances and little songs, the famous songs up to international hits. Children are attracted, children watch the show, and children know that by the end a winner must come out, i.e. a ballet or the younger singer. Because of the fact that it is a show with a happy end, the one who wins is the public, so that everyone is happy. The most important thing is that the whole hall is enfolded by the show, they respond to it and join in the atmosphere along with all the singers and dancers, and therefore it is normal to be successful.

How do you feel on the scene of the "Giuleşti" Theatre; what benefits have you been brought to by this new location?

It's hard to say. It is formidable because now we are at home; we have our 450-seat hall. We have four shows on Monday and on Tuesday - matinees, but we also have a show on Friday night, which is firstly but not exclusively aimed to the 6^th District residents who have not had this joy for decades. So we have five shows a week at the headquarters and in addition, we have shows along the country. Last Saturday I went to Constanta, at the Youth Cultural House, and, with the same show - The Children and the Mirage of the Competition Children - we had 700 children who stood up to applaud.

The joy to be a child...

... the smiles and the positive energy turned the show The Children and the Magic of the Competition in a cultural-artistic corner, in which dancers, actors and young singers came together to bring joy on children's faces. Modern and folk dances, Romanian and international hits vibrated together in a wonderful world dedicated to children.