MANILA, Philippines - Patricia Angel Platon Medalla of SM City Marikina and Nhikzy Veench Calma of SM City Manila sparkled as SM Little Stars 2013 during the grand finals held recently at the SM Mall of Asia Center Stage.
Nhiksy, who amazed the audience with his Michael Jackson moves in a remix dance number, dreams to become a famous dancer, doctor or dentist someday. While Patricia, who wants to become an international singer someday, wowed the crowd with her song Forever is not Enough by Sarah Geronimo.
They won over 15 finalists in the annual nationwide search for cute, adorable and talented kids. As grand prize winners, they received P150,000 worth of cash and shopping money, and a five-day, four-night night trip to China for two with roundtrip tickets and hotel accommodations.
They were also entitled to a four-year college scholarship grant from National University; John Robert Powers’ basic personality development program gift certificates worth P38,000; and a Center for Pop children’s prep singing scholarship grant worth P11,525. Other prizes included Toy Kingdom gift certificates worth P10,000; SM Bowling Summer Clinic and Ice Skating scholarships; and items from the Nido Fortified Science Discovery Center.
The kids charmed Little Star judges — Trumpets president Audie Gemora, director Jerome Pobocan, The CompanY’s Sweet Plantado-Tiongson, Regine Tolentino and 1990 Binibining Pilipinas-Universe Gem Padilla Thomas. Criteria for judging are star quality (30 percent), personality (20 percent) and talent (50 percent).
First runner-up was Nicoli Lista from SM Taytay, who also did a song-and-dance performance of One Thing by One Direction; second runner-up Maverick Miranda from SM San Fernando Downtown showed his musical talent by playing the violin to the song That’s What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction; and third runner-up Telesa Marie de Torres from SM City Manila sang Listen by Beyoncé.
Other finalists included SM City Tarlac’s Luis Bernard Guzman, SM City Clark’s Chunsa Angella Jung, SM City Rosario’s Amber Sophia Cariño and Meg Ian Carl Rojas, SM City Lipa’s Isaiah Raymier Reyes, SM City Batangas’ Cassandra Gabrielle Dimaculangan, SM City Cebu’s John Anthony Oliveros, SM City Iloilo’s Breanne Thianel Tan, SM City Cagayan de Oro’s Giann Simon Tan and SM City Davao’s Sofia Raphaelle Kintanar.
One of the highlights of the program hosted by Iza Calzado was the participation of the SM Little Stars winners from China who also showcased their talents during event. They were SM Chengdung’s Kuang Xingyu and Cheng Zhuojun; SM Suzhou’s Jia Jingying and Xie Ziyang; SM Chonqing’s Chen Yiming and Zhang Xiaoen; SM Xiamen’s Rong Yiting and Wu Jiaxin; and SM Jinjiang’s Lin Zixua. Also present were last year’s winners Chrisdane Andreu Galero and Aliah Franzin Navarro.
The SM Little Stars pageant is one of the many exciting events of the SM Supermalls.