I don't know if many of you know. But I have just learned today that a Filipino kid won CBS's Star Search 2004. Much like American Idol, Star Search aims to come out with one grand champion for the season. Only this time, the judges have a better role than to lambast the finalists - they grade them. They give them stars.

In the not-so-recent championship, Mark Mejia, from San Diego, CA triumphed as the Junior Singing Champion. How amazing that kid really is! I watched his special segment at ASAP Mania today and oh boy! His voice sent me The Shivers. He sang a couple of songs with Bituin Escalante, Vina Morales, Geneva Cruz, and a couple of other divas whose names I have never learned of.

Anyway, according to my preliminary research, Mark is only 11. But he was 10 when he won in the finals in May. When the songs were tallied that night, he received the perfect 20 stars from the judges. The home audience supported the judges' decision. And with 38 stars in total, he walked home with the royal US$100,000! Now that makes me bow some more!

One remarkable truth about that kid: he dresses so well. All the pictures that I have searched online show him donned in very neat outfits - always in a coat and a tie. He looked so respectable with his composure, too. And because his height doesn't seem to reach even my shoulders, I have come to call him as the Little Adorable Man.

I confess I was never really a fan of singing contests before. But now, after all the singing sensations popping out like mushrooms out of the tv screen, I am getting hooked to it...and further hooked because I realized that so many Filipinos are indeed talented, and they deserve our appreciation.