Personalities joined in chorus to praise a young Filipino singer for his rendition of Sam Smith’s “Too Good at Goodbyes” after his video made rounds online over the weekend.
In the video, the singer who was identified as Carl Malone Montecido, a former contestant on ABS-CBN’s “Tawag ng Tanghalan” program, sang Smith’s hit single using a free karaoke equipment tester at a local mall.
This video was taken by a certain Trixie Madison who shared it on Facebook on February 5.
It has so far gained more than 10 million views. The one on Twitter earned more than 9 million views.
The recording soon reached Smith on Twitter. He described Montecido’s rendition of the song as “out of this universe.”
WHO IS THIS KID!!!!!? YOU ARE OUT OF THIS UNIVERSE WHOEVER YOU ARE ❤️ pic.twitter.com/4zHfaXVSw0
— Sam Smith (@samsmith) February 8, 2020
When Montecido learned of this, he thanked the Grammy winner for the compliment. The aspiring singer also thanked Smith for being an inspiration to him.
“To Sam Smith, thank you so much for your reaction. I do appreciate that and I would like to say thank you also for giving me an inspiration to work had to my music career. I hope to see you soon,” he said in an interview.
Montecido made it to the local headlines when he competed during the first season of the “Tawag ng Tanghalan” portion of ABS-CBN’s noontime variety program “It’s Showtime” in 2016.
He became known as the “Blind Balladeer” on the talent show which he performed in despite his condition. He successfully reached the finals and ended with a fifth-place finish at the competition.
In 2018, Montecido became the talk of the town anew when stage director Paul Ballano revealed in a series of Facebook posts that the former has not yet received his prize money from the competition.
The network giant immediately responded and granted Montecido his much-deserved prize money and talent fees in small shows.
Ballano also made this update on Facebook.
“Carl Malone through his Tito got his checks now. Thank you ABSCBN s inyong pag aksyon s post ko. No more fighting just love,” Ballano said.
Other personalities
Another seasoned singer, and American Idol champion Kelly Clarkson was amazed over Montecido’s vocal prowess.
“This video has been going around my team as well! This kid is insane!” Clarkson said on Twitter as she retweeted Smith’s post.
This video has been going around my team as well! This kid is insane!! https://t.co/ucGFrXD0I7
— Kelly Clarkson (@kellyclarkson) February 8, 2020
Kelsey Merritt, also a Filipino-American Victoria’s Secret model, likewise shared Smith’s tweet and quipped: “Yung alam mo kaagad Pinoy siya. Ang galing!”
Aside from celebrities, an American writer also took notice of the video and asked his followers for the singer’s name.
“Anyone know who this is?” Yashar Ali said. Ali also tagged the Twitter account of the executive producer of Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Anyone know who this is?
cc: @EdGlavin https://t.co/v7rcmR1tfg
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) February 8, 2020
The long-time American TV host featured several Filipinos on her show before, including “America’s Got Talent” contender Marcelito Pomoy.
