By: Zaidul Khair bin Jungkim
KOTA KINABALU: Sept 14, 2026 – Borneo Rising contestant Petrova wants to continue improving her performances every week throughout the eight-week competition by focusing on stage presence, health and music arrangement.
Commenting on this week’s performance, Petrova was grateful that fan support through voting helped her secure a high placing.
“I always aim for first, second or at least third place,” she said.
Petrova said this week’s strategy focused on stage presence and staying healthy after seeing several contestants suffering from fever, cough or feeling unwell.
“If you are sick, how can you hit the high notes? So I always take care of my health, including wearing a face mask,” she said.
For the third week, Petrova chose Nadira’s song “Emas”, which was approved by the production team. According to Petrova, the song is one of her favourites because it allows her to showcase her vocal strength, especially her high notes.
Petrova explained that each contestant must prepare a list of five songs according to the theme before the production team approves a suitable selection.
Before joining Borneo Rising, Petrova was active in singing competitions. Most recently, she was selected as one of the two finalists of Bintang Sudirman 2.0 who will compete in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 5 this year.
Petrova previously represented Papar, Kota Kinabalu, before representing Inanam. Acknowledging that she feels less confident when competing against experienced artistes, Petrova wants to improve her weaknesses, including music arrangement. The performance concept, meanwhile, is proposed by herself before being adapted by the production team.
