Celebrity talent tilt finalists push themselves to the limit

From left: Wacky Kiray, Gab Valenciano, Cristine Reyes and Daniel Matsunaga

The grand finals of “I Can Do That” last June 4 and 5 were a suitably big and brash viewing treat, with the reality talent tilt’s four finalists pushing themselves to the limit by way of the difficult performing challenges they strove to measure up to—and master.

On June 4, Gab Valenciano pulled off an acrobatic performance involving a giant spiral, Cristine Reyes literally scorched the stage with a fiery act that threatened to alarm the Fire Department, Wacky Kiray came up with a high-wire act, and Daniel Matsunaga similarly impressed by way of his own high-flying acrobatic performance.

Yes, there were some hesitations and flubs—but, all told, the finalists more than passed muster, even after only a week of being trained by experts.

So, the June 5 “final-final” telecast was a relative walk in the park, with the finalists focused on garnering enough votes from viewer-voters to end as the tilt’s “best of the best” season champion.

As we awaited the official verdict, we looked back on the tilt’s highlights, and concluded that, on point of achievement and impact, Cristine deserved to win the top plum.

Not only was she the biggest star among the competition’s eight contenders, but she had proven herself to be a gutsy and versatile performer, who did her utmost best from week to week.

But, we know that local tilts involving viewers as voters tend to be psychologically “canted” in favor of the underdog—and, on “I Can Do That,” Wacky Kiray was “it.”

So, we sensed that he could end up being “empathetically” voted—all the way to the top!

True enough, when the fourth placer was named, it was Gab, and third place went to Daniel. That left Cristine and Wacky battling for the two final slots—and, when the dust had cleared, it was Wacky Kiray who had copped the cool million-bucks top plum!

Wacky Kiray

Not to worry, though, the challenging competition was good for everyone concerned: Gab came into his own as a dancer-athlete, Daniel showed that he had more than good looks and a hunky body going for him, and Cristine added to her stellar shine and cachet.

As for Wacky, he was the least known contender of the lot, but he certainly made up for lost time.
If he and his handlers know how to make the most of his big, starmaking victory, he could emerge as a truly stellar find this year—and for the long term.

All too often, talent tilt champions aren’t able to translate their instant fame and fortune into permanent stellar advantages, since local viewers’ attention span has become blithely, carelessly brief.

But, a few have pulled it off, so Wacky should make it a point to study how they did it—and follow suit!