SM Little Stars Davao selected
A five-year-old look-alike of Aga Muhlach and a six-year-old Swiss-Filipina emerged as winners in the regional finals of SM Little Stars held at the entertainment center of SM City Davao last Saturday.
The pair of David James Dimalanta and Cassandra Venuti will represent Davao in the October 20 finals of the first SM Little Stars nationwide competition to be held at the SM Mall of Asia.
Each winner took home P12,000-worth of cash, toys, gift and other incentives.
Ten lovely children competed Saturday and were judged by ABS-CBN Davao manager Trisha Corpus, topnotch fashion designer Aztec Barba, and event organizer Marissa Te Eng Foo. Hundreds joined in the audition.
David James is under home study with the Catholic Filipino Academy of Bo Sanchez of Manila.
He is the second in the four children of Rodelio and Chartreuese. His father is a nurse who is currently working in America, while his mother is an executive of the caregiver school Integrated Learning Institute, a local partner of the Australia-based Charlton Brown.
Cassandra, the youngest and only girl among the three siblings, is a level 3 nursery pupil of Center for Brighter Beginnings in Doña Vicente in Bajada.
Her parents, Davao-based Swiss father Romano and mother Rochelle, are into restaurant business.
In the one-minute talent segment, the shy Cassandra performed a ballet number, while the extrovert David modeled on the ramp.
Cassandra is studying ballet at the Royal Academy of Davao.
David’s mother said the boy can sing and dance, but they preferred him to do the walk considering the allotted time was very minimal.
The boy’s proud mother said David’s over-confidence is a plus factor.
David said he wants to be a basketball player, but also likes to become an actor just like his dead-ringer Aga Muhlach.
Rounding up the runners-up were Little Andrei Cañete and Lynelle Anne Partoza (Shining Angels), Anthony Noel and Danica Ann Miranda (Brightest Angels), Funkee Lloyd Otero and Lillie Allen (Cheerful Angels), and Stefano Ryan Espina and Sophia Roxan (Friendly Angels).
The SM Little Stars competition has its roots in SM Supermalls in Xiamen, Jin Jiang, and Cheng Du, China.
In its original form, it was a talent show for every area, and each area would have one winning Little Star. The Little Star project proved to be very successful in
China, and initiative was taken to adapt it to the Philippine context.
The Philippine Little Star competition has evolved into a national contest, involving all SM Supermalls.
It aims at finding the brightest, shining little kids that will be named as “Little Stars.” The competition itself is not strictly a formal beauty pageant or talent show, but a fun opportunity to showcase a child’s natural charm, wit and, yes, talent.
An SM Little Star is well-rounded, fun-loving kid willing to have fun and show other people his or her style.
