DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/14 Dec) — Davao and Mindanao’s only representative is the grand winner of TV 5’s reality talent show, Talentadong Pinoy.
In Saturday night’s Talentadong Pinoy 2014: The Mighty Revolution held at Resorts World Manila’s Newport Performing Arts Theater, Neil Rey Garcia Llanes, a hall of fame awardee in the reality show, pulled out all the stops to win the title. “Ultimate Talentadong Pinoy.”
He took home the title along with one million pesos.
Neil went head on with two sexy women Amaya (who danced in a pole and a hoop suspended in the air) and Mistiq (who did complex yet graceful aerial silk stunts); two dance groups Escapade Blazing Color Guards (who did a spectacle performance involving flags and a scaffolding) and Tazmania (mixed dance); a performer in a wheelchair (BMG Wheelchair Dance Sport); and firedancers Bonfire.
In his performance, Neil transformed the stage into a club by making echoing sounds and imitating violin sounds; drum sounds followed when he walked to a physical drum set on the stage.
Dancers entered the stage and joined him as he proceeded to showcase his signature moves. “I have eight sounds,” he said, as he started voicing them out, with the dancers as eight corresponding dancers acted as visual cues.
When he belted all eight sounds together, he and the dancers moved and grooved on stage. “Let’s dance!” he called, dropping the bass.
Neil took pride in saying that beatbox, to him, is a medicine. “It can cure loneliness,” he said. The crowd went wild in approval.
In an interview last November, the 19-year-old junior business administration student from Holy Cross of Davao College said that he discovered his talent in the bathroom when he was young.
Tuesday Vargas was impressed at how the young beatboxer upped the ante in his performance. When Neil auditioned, he impressed the judges by playing with five sounds. This increased to six in the season finale and then eight in the grand finals.
Charice said that she learned a lot after watching Neil perform. “Iba talaga ang galing ng Pinoy,” she said. Charice encouraged Neil to continue honing his craft because it’s a blessing and a gift that he can share to others.
After Neil’s performance, Cherie Gil said that she wished her children were in the audience to watch him perform. Gil said that Neil’s talent is something that the Philippines can be proud of showing to the rest of the world. She described her experience watching the beatbox performance as “spectacular.” “I was blown away!” she said.
The rest of the Talent Scouts who determined the winner that night were Pilita Corrales, Jaya, Jasmine Curtis Smith, Richard Gutierrez, and Gelli de Belen. (Jesse Pizarro Boga /MindaNews)