Peter Rosalita. Screengrab from AGT YouTube
Eleven-year-old Filipino Peter Rosalita returned to the America’s Got Talent (AGT) stage for its All-Star 2023 edition more confident than before as he belted through his performance, eliciting a standing ovation from all three judges of the show and the crowd.
Rosalita, smartly dressed in a cream-colored suit, wowed the audience with his powerful rendition of the song “Go the Distance” by Michael Bolton, exhibiting his excellent vocals and successfully pulling through the high notes, prompting AGT host Terry Crews to comment that the judges are “on their feet” after his performance.
True enough, Simon Cowell led fellow judges Howie Mandel and Heidi Klum to stand up and give the boy a much-deserved round of applause.
AGT judges gives a standing ovation to Peter Rosalita. Screengrab from AGT YouTube
Cowell said: “You’ve come back here to compete again (but) what’s your dream, Peter?”
“My dream is to become an international singer and to have my own album,” he said.
Rosalita was then asked if this audition was still nerve-wracking for him even after having been on the same stage in the past. “I’t’s very nerve-wracking… More nervous here. Like right now, I have sort of a sore throat,” he said, drawing guffaws from the crowd as Mandel jokingly moved away from him and ordered him to return to the stage.
Screengrab from AGT YouTube
“You said that you were really nervous… and have a really sore throat. That was amazing without knowing all that. But knowing all that and your age? Well done, young man, well done!” Mandel said.
“You are a star in the making. You really came here to fight, and I loved that about you,” said Klum.
“Peter, you are very old-fashioned, in terms of what you wear, the kind of song you sing. However, your voice has actually got better. I know there’s still a lot from you to come. Having said that, that might be enough to put you through to the finals,” said Cowell.
Hiccups
Rosalita, who grew up in Dubai, first joined the audition for AGT’s Season 16 with Celine Dion’s “All By Myself,” a performance that Cowell said “literally gave me goosebumps.”
In his pre-interview, Rosalita recalled this first AGT experience, not at all showing that he was greatly affected by his well-known hiccup on stage.
“This audition got over 15 million views, and then Celine Dion tweeted about me. I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s Celine Dion.’ I got far to the semifinals and I got very nervous, and there was that hiccup,” referring to the start of his performance in the 2021 finals, which he had asked to repeat on stage because he had a hiccup.
The Filipino boy eventually lost the finals to Dustin Tavella, who was a much older contestant than him.
“Being on America’s Got Talent changed my life. Now that I’m back, I feel more confident and I grew a little. This is my second chance. I’m gonna make sure that there will be no hiccups,” said Rosalita.