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Hand shadow artist Philip Galit made headlines when he competed in "America's Got Talent: Fantasy League," joined Howie Mandel's team, and finished in the Top 10.

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 Philip Galit 06282024

ABS-CBN News Intern

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1719550435058Philip-Galit-06282024.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="&#x27;America&#x27;s Got Talent&#x27; hand shadow artist Philip Galit&#x27;s shares journey to global stage"/></div><div><br/></div><p>MANILA -- Filipino hand shadow artist  Philip Galit, known as &quot;Shadow Ace&quot; from Calatagan, Batangas, continues to show that light exists even in darkness. </p><p>Months ago, Galit made headlines when he competed in &quot;America&#x27;s Got Talent: Fantasy League,&quot; joined Howie Mandel&#x27;s team, and finished in the Top 10.  </p><p>In a recent interview, Galit recalled his humble beginnings. Growing up poor and unable to afford electricity, Galit discovered his talent for shadow art through candlelight early on. He used it for self-entertainment, as his family did not own a television set.</p><div><strong></strong></div><p>According to Galit, sharing his shadow art on social media platform TikTok paved the way for his global performances.   </p><p>Galit did not initially intend to share his shadow art on TikTok. He only recently used it for dance covers and lip-syncs as he was not sure if Filipinos and others would appreciate it. </p><p>But one time, he got bored and tried to make shadow art from the viral song “Paro Paro G.”</p><p>“It&#x27;s 11 o&#x27;clock, 11 p.m. and sobrang wala po ako magawa na that time. So I just put my phone po sa cabinet and then I put some lights and then I did the &#x27;Paro Paro G.&#x27; I was so shocked po kasi nung umaga, meron na siyang million views, one million views, and ang dami ko na pong followers. So I was shocked kasi parang hindi ko po in-expect,” he said. </p><div><span style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">Currently, Galit has 4.4 million TikTok followers.</span> </div><div><strong>&#x27;America&#x27;s Got Talent&#x27; experience</strong></div><p>Everything changed after that viral video, with &quot;America&#x27;s Got Talent&quot; inviting Galit to join the competition. </p><p>“Hanggang ngayon po hindi ako makapaniwala na narating ko ‘yun just because of doing hand shadow art na dati ay sa dingding lang namin ginagawa,” he said. </p><p>Being on the &quot;AGT&quot; stage was a great experience, but getting four yeses and a standing ovation from the judges and crowd was surprising. He was happy they liked his performance because he often doubted his skills.</p><p>Galit added that his &quot;AGT&quot; experience was memorable because he often performed with his parents, but they had visa issues and he was the only one who got a visa. He wondered if he could do it alone. But he believed that opportunity knocks only once, so he had to trust himself.</p><p>“Tapos narating ko ‘yun and then I got standing ovations and sobrang ganda kasi as in parang super recognized. Ang saya ng experience kasi nangangarap lang ako dati before sa panonood ng &#x27;AGT.&#x27; Pero ngayon naging finalist na ako ng show,” he said.</p><div><strong>Hand shadow puppetry creation and techniques</strong></div><p>Galit begins hand shadow performances by considering the music. He chooses popular songs so people can relate to them. </p><p>Unlike other shadow puppetry performers, he wants his audience to relate. He made TikTok videos with popular sounds like the Asoka Challenge and the Marimar song. He uses music by Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, and others, noting that hand shadow puppeteers usually fail when their act becomes boring. </p><p>He also proudly said that most of his props are recycled. </p><p>“Ang pinakamahalaga po kasing tool when you&#x27;re doing hand shadow puppetry is the creativity na mayroon ka. Kasi even ‘yung mga basura or mga patapon na gamit, like mga used cardboards, actually nga po, kinukuha ko ‘yung mga box sa cakes kapag may handaan. Hinihingi ko nalang ‘yung box kasi tinatapon lang nila. ‘Yun po ‘yung ginagamit ko, hindi lang po ‘yung kamay lagi ang pagod kasi ‘yung utak po mas pagod sa akin kasi ‘yun po ‘yung dapat paganahin talaga,” he said. </p><div><strong>Influence on audience</strong></div><p>Galit joined all the Got Talent franchises to inspire others and show them that poverty does not limit talent.</p><p>Prior to joining <span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">&quot;America&#x27;s Got Talent: Fantasy League,&quot;</span> Galit was in the third season of &quot;Asia&#x27;s Got Talent.&quot; He also appeared on &quot;Pilipinas Got Talent&quot; Season 5.</p><p>His top tip for individuals interested in this type of art is to believe in it. He said many will judge and criticize you. They will say it&#x27;s for kids and not for the world stage, but as long as you put your heart into it and have a creative mind to improve your art, everything will fall into place.</p><p>He happily reminisced about the most memorable fan moment in his life, and it was the first fan letter he received as a shadow puppeteer from a child, who became more motivated to fight his illness and live after seeing his act.</p><p>Currently, Galit continues to performing in the Philippines and abroad and his challenge is to improve every time.</p><p>Outside of his hand shadow art, Galit also paint, sing, and bake. But he has little time to focus on these things. </p><p>“Kasi nga po, medyo busy na rin po ako as a hand-shadow artist. And parang ito na po kasi ‘yung ibinigay kong pangalan sa bayan namin at saka dito po sa bansa. Kaya parang kapag when it comes to saying na parang hand shadow art, parang ako na po &#x27;yun,” he said.</p><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>Hand shadow artist Philip Galit made headlines when he competed in "America's Got Talent: Fantasy League," joined Howie Mandel's team, and finished in the Top 10.</p>

'America's Got Talent' hand shadow artist Philip Galit shares journey to global stage

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'America's Got Talent' hand shadow artist Philip Galit shares journey to global stage

ABS-CBN News Intern,

Kriselle Portillo

Published Jun 28, 2024 12:54 PM PHT

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Updated Jun 28, 2024 01:10 PM PHT

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Asia's Got Talent

shadow play artist

shadow puppeteer

Philip Galit

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