IT WAS a shining moment for Knch Lhnn Cabillo and Andre Roberto Tagle when they were named SM's Little Stars during the Grand Finals held recently at the Centerstage of the Mall of Asia.
This was the highlight of the search in which close to 5,000 cute, talented, lovable, and adorable kids from all over the Philippines participated in. Twenty four finalists were selected during the regional finals to compete for the coveted title during the Grand Finals.
Knch Lhnn, who represents SM City Cebu, is a first grade pupil at from the University of Southern Philippines in Lahug City. This charmer wants to be a chef someday. Andre, , who represents SM City Cagayan de Oro, wants to help others - and dreams of being a superhero or a nurse someday.
Both winners brought home great prizes: P10,000.00 worth of certificate to their Junior Savings account in Banco de Oro; P10,000.00 worth of gift cards from the SM Department Store; P10,000.00 worth of toys from Toy Kingdom; and P10,000.00 worth of packages from Storyland.
Norikawa Asakawa from SM City Clark and Timothy Lambert Chan from SM City Fairview were awarded the First Runner-Up and SM Shining Star titles. Norikawa, who can whip up a storm when she sings, dances, and performs before a big crowd; and Timothy, who wants to join the US airforce one day also each won big prizes: P5,000.00 worth of certificate to their Junior account in Banco de Oro; P5,000.00 worth of gift cards from the SM Department Store; P5,000.00 worth of toys from Toy Kingdom; and P5,000.00 worth of packages from Storyland.
Cassandra Venuti from SM City Davao and Joaquin Renato Gabayeron of SM City Cebu emerged as Second Runners Up and SM Talented Angels Cassandra, a Filipino-Swiss charmer and Joaquin, a star dancer, each received the following in P3,000.00 denominations each: certificate to their Junior Savings Account in Banco de Oro gift cards from the SM Department Store, worth of toys from Toy Kingdom; and packages from Storyland.
The judges, who included Trumpet's Audie Gemora; singer-actress Carla Martinez, GMA Talent Center's Cholo Noriega, ABS-CBN's Chris Navarro, and SM's Marvie Magbulos clearly had a difficult time choosing from the finalists. Criteria for judging included Star Quality or X Factor 50 percent; Personality, Cuteness, and Wit, 30 percent; and Talent. 20 percent.
"It's so hard to decide," says judge Audie Gemora. "Everyone was so good in their talent portions, and they are all beautiful and adorable. It's like judging your own kids, so you have to be careful on hwo and who you choose."
The program, which was hosted by Patricia Bermuda Hizon and JM Rodriguez, had the SM Little Stars from China as their special guests. Talented and adorable Mofan Li, Xiaofan Ma, and Yvonne Li, who represented SM's China malls in Jingiang, Xiamen, and Chengdu, respectively, charmed the crowd with their delightful rendition of the SM jingle.
The SM Little Star pageant is sponsored by Banco de Oro, SM Department Store, Toy Kingdom, Storyland, the Center for Pop Music, Enervon Bright, Mang Inasal, and Picture City.
