It was a shining night for Gaea Mischa Salipot and Darren Andre Navarro when they were named SM Little Stars 2017 during the Grand Finals at the Samsung Hall of SM Aura Premier.
Gaea Mischa, 7, who represented SM BF Paranaque, amazed the audience with her delightful performance from the animated film, Anastacia; while Darren Andre, also 7 representing SM City Cagayan de Oro, charmed the audience by singing “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” from The Lion King.
They bested over 28 finalists in the annual nationwide search for cute, adorable and talented kids, and as Grand Prize Winners, they each received amazing prizes. These included a brand- new Chevrolet Sail, P200,000 worth of cash and SM GC’s, Economy class round trip travel certificates with routing Manila USA-Manila for two via Philippine Airlines, Trip to China for two for five days and four nights, inclusive of round trip tickets, tour itinerary and hotel accommodations with breakfast, lunch and dinner.
They were also entitled to a four-year college scholarship grant from National University; and P15,000 worth of Gift Cards from Toy Kingdom.
Other shining stars: First Runner-Up Sinead Reese Canlas of SM City Consolacion , who sang and danced the Sound of Music theme ; Second Runner Jacey Jean Wills of SM Center Muntinlupa who touched the audience with her soulful rendition of “You Raise Me Up”; and Third Runner Up Jenesis Simpson from SM City Iloilo who was all high energy with her acrobatic gymnastic dance.
Hosted by TV Personality Andi Manzano, the distinguished board of judges included movie and TV director Mac Alejandre, television celebrity Regine Tolentino, beauty queen mentor Jonas Gaffud, businesswoman and blogger Princess Velasco, and the god of the dance floor, Zeus Collins. They chose the winners based on the following criteria: 40 percent for Star Quality, 20 percent for Personality and 40 percent for Talent.
TV director Mac Alejandre said, “If we will have kids as talented as these participants, our country will be a very beautiful place.”
One of the highlights of the program was the participation of the SM Little Stars winners from China who also showcased their talents during the event. They were SM City Xiamen’s Lin Jiahao and Dai Ziwen, SM City Jinjiang’s Cheng Hsiang-Hsueh and Huang Shicheng, SM City Chongqing’s Wu Yifan and Wang Xinyue, SM City Zibo’s Zhang Hongye and Zhai Xueying, SM City Chengdu’s Jin Tianyi and Hu Siqi, SM City Suzhou’s Xu Rongjian and Liu Bohan, and SM City Tianjin’s Mu Zi and Cui Yuhan.
The SM Little Stars pageant is one of the many exciting events of the SM Supermalls.