Two singers and a vlogger were the top winners of Smart Launchpad, a search for the country's most promising content creators.
MJ Labenia, Lesha Litonjua and Tops Unay got to own their passions and show their talents to the world. As part of their prize to the competition, which is the first of its kind in the Philippines, they will be going to Los Angeles to collaborate with international star and YouTube creator Filharmonic. They also won a Samsung prize pack that contains Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, Samsung Gear 360, and Samsung VR.
They were chosen from 100 finalists out of 1,537 entries from all over the Philippines.
The consolation prize winners are Eboy Fernandez and Fra Jamir.
Glenn Mark Layola won the Samsung Innovation Award for his immersive use of the Samsung Gear 360.
Smart Launchpad is a talent search and content creation program that encourages the youth to showcase what they do best–whether it's singing or dancing, doing make-up tutorials, sharing travel tips or making people laugh.
To demonstrate its fast and efficient Internet, Smart took its Launchpad Upload Stations to different malls and schools all over the country. At the stations, content creators could make their entries on the spot and upload them on YouTube.
Watch the winning entries below:
Lesha Litonjua
Mj Labenia
Topsy Unay
Not your typical talent search
The winners were chosen after a three-day event at First Pacific Leadership Academy, Antipolo City that included workshops and talks facilitated by YouTube and social media experts like Carlo Ople, Enrique Cu Unjieng and Frank Aldana. Meanwhile, YouTube creators and category experts shared their knowledge through more intimate breakout groups. The following unselfishly shared their wealth of content generating experiences: Celebrity Nicole Andersson and make-up guru Michelle Dy for vlogging, choreographer Paulo Infante for dance, and recording artist Moira dela Torre for singing.
“This is not your usual reality competition where participants fight with each other. Everyone is really happy for each other. That's because this is your passion and you really understand one another,” said Kathy Carag, Head of Smart brand, to the participants.
Participants got valuable tips on how to understand and build their YouTube audience, how to monetize their channel, how to use a Samsung 360 camera, and other aspects of their craft.
“When we launched our new logo, part of our promise and commitment was to inspire change, especially among young Filipinos. This is part of our commitment to you,” said Katrina Luna-Abelarde, Head of Wireless Consumer Operations for Smart, during the awarding ceremonies held at First Pacific Leadership Academy.
See what went down at the event in the clip below:
