Olongapenyo in ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’

‘Pilipinas Got Talent’: Amazing contestants, affecting stories

When ABS-CBN premiered “Pilipinas Got Talent,” viewers expected to see dancers and singers,and perhaps also a smattering of fire eaters and tightrope walkers.

What they didn't expect to see were tears flowing both from the contestants and the viewers themselves.

Nowadays, we watch the show as much for the talent involved as for the stories behind them.

When we root for a contestant, we are actually rallying behind the human spirit overcoming trials, for light refusing to yield.

The musical multi-tasker

TV audiences probably wondered what 59-year-old Olongapo resident Reynaldo Benavente was up to when he took the “Pilipinas Got Talent” stage for the first time. After all, he made his entrance holding a guitar, a bass guitar and a harmonica.

Reynaldo was supposed to sing but he didn't have any musicians with him onstage. He turned out to be a one-man band — he was the vocalist, bass guitarist, acoustic guitarist and harmonica player.

“Ano yan?” amazed judge Kris Aquino asked. She was referring to the bass guitar which, instead of being swung over his shoulder, was placed on the floor before him.

Reynaldo performed the song “Stand By Me;” rendered with him on the guitar and the harmonica. He then brought the house down in the middle of the performance when he plucked the bass guitar on the floor with his bare feet.

He is a true one-man band — a modern day musical multi-tasker, if there ever was one. This three-instrument act, he said, was something he began doing back in 2002.

It was a talent scout who discovered him when he was performing in an Olongapo bar called My Space. He was urged to audition for the talent show, so he traveled all the way to Baguio using his own money to take part of the show's try-outs being held there.

Reynaldo did perform with a complete band in his younger days. He was its bass guitraist though he later switched to the acoustic guitar, just prior to leaving that band. He also had a stint working as a musician abroad.

For now, Reynaldo is grateful for the opportunity to showcase his talent and is just waiting to see if he’ll be lucky enough to extend his stint on the TV show. (By Annie S. Alejo - Manila Bulletin)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMmK_lP7L40

Above video is Reynaldo Benavente's 1-Man-Band Performance last yeat at Eat Bulaga KKB