10-year-old Eleana Gabunada wows int’l audience, gets golden buzzer on ‘Asia’s Got Talent’

On Thursday, February 28, Eleana, who walked into the stage with her attention-grabbing yellow dress, took the audience’s breath away through her spectacular vocals as she sang Barbra Streisand’s “Don’t Rain On My Parade.” (File photo: eleanakmgabunada/Instagram)

Loud cheers, standing ovation, and gold confetti raining down on the stage — this is what Eleana Gabunada, a 10-year-old Filipina gets after showcasing a jaw-dropping performance in Asia’s Got Talent (AGT) third season.

On Thursday, February 28, Eleana, who walked into the stage with her attention-grabbing yellow dress, took the audience’s breath away through her spectacular vocals as she sang Barbra Streisand’s “Don’t Rain On My Parade.”

Wowed by her performance, Anggun, one of the judges of the international talent search, said, “Oh my goodness! You’re like a baby Streisand! That was a very difficult song. And you did it, you performed it super well.”

Judge Jay Park agreed with Anggun’s comment, saying that the young girl, whom he described as “very, very talented,” gave an indeed “solid” performance.

The last judge to comment, the prominent David Foster, meanwhile told Eleana that there are a lot of people who are older than her that could also sing what she performed, but none of them “understand” the genre of the song.

“They don’t know what they’re supposed to be doing,” Foster said. “But somehow at age of 10, you understand your mission, you understand your job and there is no doubt in my mind that if you wanna be on Broadway one day, you will be.”

It was Anggun who first voted “yes,” followed by Jay who told Eleana that she “may be the only act” that got a standing ovation from David.

When it is his turn to vote, David did not utter the words “yes” or “no.” He, instead, announced his decision by standing up from his seat, extending his hand to the golden buzzer and pressed it. David’s move made Eleana jump straight to the AGT’s semifinals.

In a video posted by AGT on its Youtube account, David explained why he chose Eleana to become his Golden Buzzer choice.

“I was just really moved by her. She is just 10 years old [but] she understands her job and she has the potential to be a great singer,” he said.

David shared that he was grateful that he did not hit the button when he could have done it earlier.

“Thankfully, I waited this long because it was worth the wait,” he added.

Before Eleana, a Filipino contestant named Philip Galit, also known as Shadow Ace, has scored a golden buzzer from the show’s hosts, Alan Wong and Justin Bratton, last February 21 with his hand shadow performance.