MANILA - A man on a mission to become the first ever magician to win the grand prize in "Pilipinas Got Talent" dazzled with a performance that paid tribute to his mother who died of lung cancer.
Ody Sto. Domingo enthralled not only with his impressive sleight of hand, but also with his heartwarming back story. He ended his performance by asking viewers to hug their mothers while they still can.
The Manila-born trickster began by asking actress-judge Angel Locsin pick a card from a deck without revealing her choice. Each card had a type of emotion written on it.
Sto. Domingo also asked judge and comedian Vice Ganda to do the same, this time from a deck that had verbs written on the cards.
He then had action star Robin Padilla to shuffle another deck of random images.
Padilla's deck formed a picture of Sto. Domingo's mother holding up a piece of paper that had Locsin's word on it, shicking the actress.
To conclude his performance, Sto. Domingo signaled for confetti to rain down on the audience at the Mall of Asia Arena, where the grand finals was held on Saturday. Each piece of confetti had the word Vice Ganda chose written on it.
"MOA Arena, pag-uwi natin sa mga bahay natin ay yakapin natin ang mga magulang natin ang sabihan natin sila kung gaano natin sila kamahal. I love you, ma!" Sto. Domingo shouted.
"Kung magic lang ang paguusapan eh napakagaling ng ginawa mo. Pero bukod doon sa talento mo sa magic, ang pinakana-appreciate ko is yung pagiging mahusay mo na storyteller kasi hindi mo lang binusog ang mata namin sa magic, iyong kaluluwa namin tinamaan mo," Vice Ganda told him after his act.
"Alam mo ang magic puro tricks. Pero ikaw, nilagyan mo ng heart ang magic. Very heartwarming ang ginawa mo. Pinabilib mo kaming lahat pero higit sa lahat, binalik mo kami sa mga nanay namin," Padilla added.
Sto. Domingo is one of 12 finalists competing for P2 million grand prize. He is up against Next Option, Crossover Family, Sto. Tomas Bulilit Generation, Mastermind, and The Amazing Pyra.
Power Duo, UA Mindanao, The Chosen Ones, Dino Splendid Acrobats, Kurt Philip Espiritu, and Power Impact Dancers are also part of the grand finalis.
The act with the highest combined scores from the judges (50%) and public votes (50%) will be proclaimed as the grand champion of the fifth season of "Pilipinas Got Talent" on Sunday.
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