Underdog tops CNMI Got Talent

Members of Out of the Ordinary group pose with their mentors and judges for the awarding of their first place check during Bridge Capital’s annual CNMI Got Talent held in World Resort Saipan on Dec. 17. (Michael T. Santos)

It seems third time’s the charm for Out of the Ordinary singing group.

In its third time to compete, Out of the Ordinary finally won the annual CNMI Got Talent competition by Bridge Capital LLC last Saturday at Saipan World Resort with a bilingual performance.

The group sang O Come All Ye Faithful as well as Sana Ngayong Pasko [Hopefully, This Christmas], grabbing the first place prize as well as the Governor’s Choice Award.

Out of the Ordinary has competed in the last three CNMI Got Talent competitions, landing in second place each time. This year they walked off with $4,000 in total prizes.

Josephine Estrada, a member of Out of the Ordinary, said, “This is actually the biggest accomplishment we’ve had. We’ve been here for three years, trying to prove ourselves worthy to be grand champions and finally, despite all the frustration, we got it. I can’t even find words to describe the feeling.”

They were originally created to compete in a Battle of the Bands contest but they continued as a team and pushed for more challenging musical tournaments.

Another member, Leonard Manuel, said, “If you really take into account all the nights we’ve spent practicing [and] trying to master the song, to have people recognize our talents and choose us as first place, is really an uplifting feeling.”

Looking back at all past performances, the group thought of adding a little more variety into their performance, hence the other song being in another language.

“With the crowd we would have, since we live on a small island, we thought it would be best to add a little culture and [a different] language to cater to more people. Of course we won’t please everyone, but we’re happy with the outcome,” Estrada said.

John Jimeno, a mentor of Out of the Ordinary, said, “It’s been a long road for this group. They’ve been competing for the past three years and this is the first time they’ve come on top. It’s just an amazing feeling.”

This year’s competition may just have been the biggest one yet for Bridge Capital, with 10 acts competing for over $7,000 in cash.

Second place went to Lawrence Tubera with a $1,500 cash prize. Third place was Little Body Movers, with $1,000, and Scene X was fourth, with $750. Finishing up was Demalyn Sablan at fifth place with $500.

Judges for the event were Philippine honorary consul Glicerio Arago, CNMI Senate Vice President Arnold Palacios, CNMI Arts Council’s Gloriana Teuira; John Oliver Gonzalez, chief of staff of the lieutenant governor’s office, and Alex Sablan, vice president of TanHoldings as well as secretary of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce.