{"id":402932,"date":"2023-12-18T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=402932"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Vocalists-top-2023-CNMI-s-Got-Talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Vocalists-top-2023-CNMI-s-Got-Talent\/","title":{"rendered":"Vocalists top 2023 CNMI\u2019s Got Talent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vocalists took home the big win in Bridge Capital LLC\u2019s 13th Annual CNMI Got Talent held last Saturday night at the Kensington Hotel in San Roque.<\/p>\n

Singers Jessel Antonio, 30, and Francis Peter, 10, won the first-place prizes within their category. The duo also secured a double win as they both nabbed the \u201cMost Christmas\u201d award resulting in them walking away with $3,000 each.<\/p>\n

Antonio\u2019s rendition of \u201cO Holy Night\u201d and Peter\u2019s mashup medley of \u201cHallelujah\u201d and \u201cAuld Lang Syne\u201d not only collected the loudest cheers of the evening, but also secured the highest points from the judges in the adult and 16-and-under divisions.<\/p>\n

Antonio, who had done exceptionally well in several local contests since her arrival on Saipan, tearfully shared how much the win meant for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel so grateful and I will thank God for this opportunity. This prize is for our kids and our family,\u201d she said wiping away tears.<\/p>\n

Peters shared his gratitude and said that he only hoped to spread the Christmas spirit and joy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to do it for the people and make them feel the vibe. I tried not to be nervous so I thought of everyone as my family and try to dance and groove to it. I feel so happy, but win or lose it was for fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both extended their gratitude to Bridge Capital.<\/p>\n

In the 16-and-under category, second runner-up Juliana Kai Ortiz also won the Governor\u2019s Choice Award. First runner-up were cousins Kayden Manglona and Kassidy Garcia, who also went on to win the Best of Rota award after the duo\u2019s cover of \u201cWalking in a Winter Wonderland.\u201d There were no contestants for the Best of Tinian.<\/p>\n

In the adult 17-and-up category, Heaven Murphy\u2019s original composition and infused pop and rap song placed her as first runner-up and acapella group DYNMX placed second runner-up. DYNMX was also presented the Founder\u2019s Choice Award.<\/p>\n

While presenting the award to DYNMX, Bridge Capital CEO John Baldwin became emotional.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve performed for us when they were in Rhythm & Harmony, they performed for us as solo talents, they\u2019ve done in groups… so we\u2019ve known them for a long time. I do get emotional about it because we\u2019ve watched them grow and now, they\u2019re performing together again, when, normally when they graduate from college they don\u2019t perform together anymore and so for me it\u2019s a magical moment,\u201d he said. \u201cWith giving them a platform to perform on for many years now and to see them come back together on their own…nobody organized them and they did it because they wanted to be together and I find that very touching.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the show that night he remarked, \u201cIt never ceases to amaze me the amount of incredible talent that is available in the CNMI. Tonight\u2019s show is the best ever… we\u2019ve done this 13 times and tonight was absolutely amazing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Baldwin also commended the organizers of the 13th Annual CNMI Got Talent and continued to welcome performances from Rota and Tinian.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us this is sort of an answer to a little prayer. We want them to come perform…and then to do such a spectacular job… we want to see more from Rota and Tinian…we want to give them the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bridge Capital vice president Bart Jackson told the media that they had 320 in the room, a number greater than what they had initially expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a great event and we had great performers. We had a great crowd I had a great response and interaction between performers and the crowd. One of the judges was telling me how emotional she got when watching certain performances. So, it brings great satisfaction in doing what we do the right way. \u201c<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

CNMI Got Talent winner in the adult category Jessel Antonio, second from right, poses with Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Bridge Capital LLC CEOs Shawn Scott and John Baldwin during the 13th Annual CNMI\u2019S Got Talent last Saturday at the Kensington Resort in San Roque.<\/p>\n

-CHRYSTAL MARINO
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

CNMI Got Talent winner in the 16-and-under category Francis Peter, second from right, poses with Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Bridge Capital LLC CEOs Shawn Scott and John Baldwin during the 13th Annual CNMI\u2019S Got Talent last Saturday at the Kensington Resort in San Roque.<\/p>\n

-CHRYSTAL MARINO
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

Kassidy {span}Manglona and Kassidy Garcia{\/span} perform \u201cWalking in the Winter Wonderland\u201d during the 13th Annual CNMI\u2019S Got Talent last Saturday at the Kensington Resort in San Roque.<\/p>\n

-CHRYSTAL MARINO
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

Acapella group DYNMX performs during Bridge Capital\u2019s 13 Annual CNMI Got Talent at the Kensington Hotel in San Roque last Saturday night.<\/p>\n

-CHRYSTAL MARINO
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

Heaven Murphy performs her original song during Bridge Capital\u2019s 13 Annual CNMI Got Talent last Saturday night at the Kensington Hotel in San Roque.<\/p>\n

-CHRYSTAL MARINO
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vocalists took home the big win in Bridge Capital LLC\u2019s 13th Annual CNMI Got Talent…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-402932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402932\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}