Gary David is Celebrity Dance Battle champ

MANILA, Philippines - Basketball star Gary ‘El Granada’ David emerged as the victorious champion in TV5’s first Celebrity Dance Battle grand finals, bagging the P1M cash prize and beating four other celebrity finalists who gave their all in the do-or-die dance showdown at Resorts World’s Newport Performing Arts Theater.

Gary and his dance partner, Stephanie Sabalo, wowed the crowd with their breathtaking dance performance and got a standing ovation from judges G Tongi, Ednah Ledesma, Regine Tolentino, Joey Javier Reyes and Douglas Nierras (who judged and commented via online video conference live from Italy). The four other grand finalists — Priscilla Meirelles, Iwa Moto, Ciara Sotto and Rafa Siguion-Reyna — gave a good fight with their respective dance partners, with each pair impressing the judges with their spectacular moment on the stage, but Gary and Stephanie eventually rose above them all with their stage presence and precision in dancing the Latin Salsa to the fast beat of Michael Jackson’s Love Never Felt So Good.

Photo shows (from left) host Lucy Torres-Gomez, TV5 president and CEO Noel Lorenzana, Gary and Stephanie.