If his dream of becoming a famous singer does not pan out, America's Got Talent contestant Peter Rosalita says he'd like to be a civil engineer. Or a computer programmer.
For now, though, the Filipino boy, 10, from Abu Dhabi is basking in his newfound online fame, after he stunned judges during his audition on the hit US reality show.
The video of Peter's audition, on the first episode of the show's 16th season, has been viewed more than three million times on YouTube since it was uploaded on June 2.
"You have an amazing voice, an amazing personality, an amazing energy. Everyone is going to fall in love with you after this audition," judge and show creator Simon Cowell said after Peter's rendition of the 1975 Eric Carmen song All By Myself, also made famous by Celine Dion in 1996.
Dion's team even shared Peter's audition video on Twitter..
Speaking to The National, Peter, who's been training his voice at a music school in Abu Dhabi for the past two years, says he is still coming to terms with the response he's received from his audition that has gone viral.
"I am so happy. I was watching other America's Got Talent contestants on YouTube before and now I'm watching myself," he says.
A Grade 5 student at Richmindale school in Abu Dhabi, it was Peter's music teacher at the Cadenza Music Institute who helped him pick his audition song.
It was so amazing and overwhelming meeting all the judges. I had only a few minutes with them
"We chose the song because it fits my range of voice," he says. His other favourite song is Never Enough, performed by Loren Allred in the film The Greatest Showman. Peter counts Dion, Josh Groban, Whitney Houston and Bruno Mars among his favourite artists.
An only child, Peter was born in Abu Dhabi and lives with his parents and aunt, Mary Jane Villegas, his guardian who travelled with him to the US for the audition and who can also be seen in the video. His father, Ruel, is a chef, while his mother, Vilma, works as a cashier.
He says his family decided to send his first audition tape to the show after they noticed he was obsessively watching America's Got Talent videos on YouTube.
“You need to send your audition video on their online audition site and if you are chosen you will follow their process,” he explains.
All expenses for the 10-day trip to California, for both Peter and his aunt, were covered by the show.
"It was so amazing and overwhelming meeting all the judges. I had only a few minutes with them as there are a lot of other contestants," Peter says of his trip to the US in April.
While he's still under contract with the show, the youngster is currently back in Abu Dhabi, and would not reveal any spoilers.
“I had my celebrity judge audition, so please follow the show as well as my social media as it progresses,” he teases.
Villegas, who brought Peter's parents to the UAE 12 years ago, says the family noticed his gift at an early age.
“He used to love to sing along to cartoon videos that usually have a lot of musical scenes, even before he could properly utter the words,” she says.
In 2018, they decided to enrol him at a music school to polish his skills.
Rose Abegail Ortiguero, a music teacher and the managing director of the Cadenza Music Institute in the UAE capital, says Peter is a natural.
"Peter loves practising and never complains. He is one of our best students and his audition just blew us away," she tells The National.
As he waits for the show to progress, Peter, who is currently on a school break, says he's back to his vocal and piano lessons for now. He also loves watching TV and enjoys drawing in his spare time.
He'd like to buy a Nintendo Switch if he happens to bag the show's $1 million prize money. But if Peter does not win, life will go on as before, he says.
"It will be the same as before I joined America's Got Talent ... Studying, my twice-a-week vocal classes and playing."
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Read more:
Six Filipino singers who have gone viral on reality shows: from Angelica Hale to Cyrus Villanueva
How this Filipino sales manager in Abu Dhabi got two million streams on Spotify
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The Birkin bag is made by Hermès.
It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULTS
5pm: Watha Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 (Dirt) 2,000m
Winner: Dalil De Carrere, Bernardo Pinheiro (jockey), Mohamed Daggash (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh 70,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Miracle Maker, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Pharitz Al Denari, Bernardo Pinheiro, Mahmood Hussain
6.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Oss, Jesus Rosales, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: ES Nahawand, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: AF Almajhaz, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Khalifa Al Neyadi
8pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner: AF Lewaa, Bernardo Pinheiro, Qaiss Aboud.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP
Men’s:
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)
Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
