© Provided by The Philippine Star
The powerful, romantic and acrobatic dance of Power Duo won the hearts and votes of viewers and judges of Pilipinas Got Talent (PGT) to make dancers Anjanette and Gervin the grand champion of the reality-talent show’s season five and winner of the P2M grand prize.
Still in a state of shock, the couple is overjoyed that all their sacrifice and hard work have paid off. “We are so happy. We did not expect to win and so the idea of winning has not really sunk in. All our hard work and sacrifice paid off,” said Gervin.
Anjanette and Gervin’s performance Sunday night not only earned standing ovation from PGT judges Vice Ganda, Robin Padilla, Angel Locsin and Freddie “FMG” Garcia, but also obtained a score of 100 percent.
“That was not just a dance. That was love. Tonight, love wins,” said Vice after the duo’s performance. “Sa mundo na punong-puno ng mga taong nananakit, pinaniwala niyo ako muli sa pag-ibig.”
Robin added, “When love talks, everybody listens. Love conquers all.”
Asked where the love between the two is coming from, Anjanette and Gervin gave all the thanks to God for bringing them to each other and inspiring them in all their performances.
”We should be thankful to God. He is our inspiration. We would not be able to achieve this without Him. Thank you to God. This is part of His plan for us,” said Gervin.
Power Duo was one of the season’s contestants that earned a “golden buzzer” during the auditions that earned them a spot in the semi-finals, where they also impressed the judges with their interpretation of Wag Ka Nang Umiyak.
It was the first time in PGT for a dance duo to win top honors. The past four seasons were won by singers, namely Jovit Baldivino, Marcelito Pomoy, the Maasinhon Trio and Roel Manlangit.
When asked about breaking the streak of singer-winners, Gervin explained that their goal was simply to show the talent God gave them and the couple was already happy with the positive responses they’ve been receiving about their performances.
“It all depends on the viewers’ choice. For our part, we did what we were supposed to do and danced with all our hearts in order to reach our dreams,” he said.
For a change, the grand champion of PGT 5 was not solely determined by viewers’ SMS and Google votes. Half of the scores combined came from the judges. It was the first time for a Got Talent franchise worldwide to do so.
Following Power Duo in the Top 3 were fire dancer Amazing Pyra (66.57 percent), who endured a minor burn suffered during a rehearsal for the semi-finals, and magician Ody Sto. Domingo (50.61 percent), who dedicated his act to his mother who succumbed to cancer 10 months ago.
The other grand finalists include Master Mind, Kurt Philip Espiritu, Power Impact Dancers, Crossover, Dino Splendid Acrobats, Sto. Tomas Bulilit Generation, UA Mindanao, The Chosen Ones and Next Option.
Sharon Cuneta entertained the big crowd at the SM Arena and viewers by singing the theme of Bituing Walang Ninging.
The two-night Final Showdown of Pilipinas Got Talent dominated the weekend by topping all programs and receiving national TV ratings of 33.8 percent last May 21 and 36.7 percent last May 22, according to data from Kantar Media.
Social media were also abuzz in both days as the official hashtags #PGT5FinalShowdown and #PGT5GrandWinner top-trended worldwide and in the Philippines via Twitter.