They’ve sure got talent!
The Fourth of July is always a good time for the American Chamber of Cebu as it gathers its members for its annual Filipino-American Friendship Day party. This year, the AmCham decided to do something new and exciting with its first-ever AmCham’s Got Talent competition.
Sitting in the judges’ seats that night at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino were four media personalities—Atty. Juril Broka Patiño of Brigada Tandem 93.1FM; Carlo Guzman Dugaduga who is a past president of the KBP Cebu Chapter and also a broadcast journalist of 93.1FM; Margo Frasco of Titay’s Rosquillos and Delicacies, who also DJ’s for Magic 92.3 Cebu and was the chairman of the Board of Judges; and a certain someone whose column you may read on page B3 of SunStar Cebu on Saturdays.
Melvin Tudtud of Northern Lights Technology Development got the talent show off to an exciting start, as he danced a modern solo that I commended him on for the creative use of the entire stage and the fluidity of his movements, both large and small. Second was Kim Laceren of Lexmark, who hit a range of notes with her powerful singing solo. Then we applauded the duo known as Rhea and Ken of Harolds Hotel, who have been dance sport partners for a decade and practically professionals. Next onstage was the Mr. K Acoustics group of Savvysherpa Asia Inc., who did a cool medley of ‘80s classics Purple Rain and Under Pressure. Rolan Ancajas was on the home front as an engineer who has worked for Waterfront for almost 20 years, and he sang My Love Will See You Through like a seasoned balladeer. Cessa and Friends of Timex then changed the tempo with an upbeat song and dance number, followed by another powerful balladeer from PEBA Trading, George Miano. Rounding up the candidates was the RS Dance Team of Savvysherpa, part of whose performance included something inspired by Magic Mike.
Seeing how much practice and effort all of the candidates had put into their numbers, it was not easy for us judges to decide on a winner. George Miano was visibly nervous, but as it turned out, he didn’t need to be, as he was announced the champion for the night!
Apart from AmCham’s Got Talent, the night was kept exciting from beginning to end as many raffle prizes were given out, including Titay’s gift packs, Timex watches, and airline tickets generously sponsored by Cebu Pacific Air and Philippine Airlines.
Although it was AmCham’s first time to hold a talent show, they pulled out all the stops for the lights and sounds for a professionally done program done by Brenda Deen and her team. Congratulations, AmCham! I’m sure everyone is already looking forward to next year’s show.