Marcelito "Lito" Castro Pomoy (born September 22, 1984) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

singer, known for his ability to sing in both

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

and soprano. He is the grand winner of the second season of ''

Pilipinas Got Talent ''Pilipinas Got Talent'' (PGT) is a Philippine reality talent competition show on ABS-CBN that began on February 20, 2010, replacing '' The Singing Bee''. It is based on the ''Got Talent'' franchise, a British TV format conceived and owned by ...

''. In 2019, he took part in '' America's Got Talent: The Champions'' finishing fourth overall.

Early life and career

Pomoy was born in

Imus Imus, officially the City of Imus ( fil, Lungsod ng Imus), is a 3rd class component city and ''de jure'' capital of the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 496,794 people. It is the ''de jure ...

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest ...

and raised in

Bislig Bislig, officially the City of Bislig ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Bislig; fil, Lungsod ng Bislig), is a 3rd class component city in the province of Surigao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 99,290 people. It is ...

Surigao del Sur Surigao del Sur ( Surigaonon: ''Probinsya nan Surigao del Sur''; ceb, Habagatang Surigao; tl, Timog Surigao), officially the Province of Surigao del Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Caraga region in Mindanao. Its capital is T ...

, both of which are in the Philippines. When he was young, his father was incarcerated while his mother left him alone with his younger sibling and went to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. He was later adopted by a police officer and did odd jobs when he was a teenager. Later on, both his biological father and mother had separate families of their own. Pomoy had discovered a talent of his while doing poultry work: singing in both a male tenor voice and a strikingly convincing female soprano voice. This paved the way for him to join different contests in both the amateur and professional leagues. He tried his luck in ''

Talentadong Pinoy ''Talentadong Pinoy (transl,"Talented Pinoy" '' also known as '"Bangon Talentadong Pinoy"', (transl, "Get Up, Talented Pinoy" for its eighth season is a Philippine reality talent show broadcast by TV5. The show premiere on August 16, 2008. Host ...

'', but regrettably did not make it. He later joined the second season of ''

'' (''PGT''), when he was 26 years old and by this time, made the cut. In the course of his ''PGT'' stint, he was able to fulfill his lifelong dream to reunite with his family. Pomoy makes regular appearances on '' ASAP'', and his first studio album, entitled ''Duet Yourself'', was released in 2011 under

Star Records Star Music (stylized in lowercase as starmusic; formerly known as Star Records), is a record label in the Philippines owned and operated by media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation. It was formerly a separate company operating as a wholly owned ...

. In September 2018, he appeared on the

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the seat of government and one of three defined metropolitan areas in ...

radio station Wish 107.5, call sign

DWNU DWNU ( 107.5 FM), broadcasting as Wish 107.5 ''(pronounced as Wish one-o-seven-five)'', is a 24-hour radio station owned by Progressive Broadcasting Corporation and operated by Breakthrough and Milestones Productions International (BMPI), the ...

performing Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli's famous duet " The Prayer", a bilingual song in English and Italian. The station reinvited him to perform " The Power of Love" by

Jennifer Rush Jennifer Rush (born Heidi Stern; September 28, 1960) is an American pop and rock singer. She achieved success during the mid-1980s with several singles and studio albums including the million-selling single " The Power of Love", which she co- ...

, also made famous by Dion. The performance on the Manila station caught the attention of the American television host

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

. She invited him and his wife to appear on her show '' TheEllenShow''. He performed two songs on the show, "The Prayer" and "

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

" gaining attention internationally because of the show. As Pomoy had picked both songs from

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

mentioning that she was his favorite singer, Ellen arranged for Pomoy to go to

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

to attend one of her concerts and meet her personally. In August 2019, he appeared at the ASOP (A Song of Praise) Music Festival in its 7th edition singing Joel Jabelosa's "Pagbabalik". The festival was broadcast on Philippine television.

''America's Got Talent: The Champions''

Pomoy's success on ''PGT'' led to his being a contestant on the second season of '' America's Got Talent: The Champions''. He auditioned with " The Prayer" in episode 2 that aired January 13, 2020. Being qualified to the next round, he followed with singing the main soundtrack of "

". In the semi-finals, he performed "

Con te partirò "Con te partirò" (; "With You I Shall Depart") is an Italian song written by Francesco Sartori (music) and Lucio Quarantotto (lyrics). It was first performed by Andrea Bocelli at the 1995 Sanremo Music Festival and recorded on his album of the ...

" in Italian. In the final he sang "

We Are the Champions "We Are the Champions" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released from the band's sixth album ''News of the World'' (1977). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, it remains among rock's most recognisable anthems.

" from

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

with additional participation by other finalist acts Boogie Storm, Duo Transcend and Hans and Russian Bar. He finished fourth in the competition overall.

Personal life

On September 21, 2014, Pomoy married Joan Paraiso of Calauag, Quezon. They have one daughter, Marcella Janiah. Pomoy currently resides in his wife's hometown in Calauag together with his family.

Philanthropist

Pomoy, who has hardware stores in Calauag, makes philanthropic activities in town. He has built small houses for some residents and helps organize donation drives for education and other sectors.

Discography

Studio albums

Filmography

Television

References

External links

Mars Pomoy on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pomoy, Marcelito 1984 births Living people People from Surigao del Sur People from Imus 21st-century Filipino male singers Star Magic Got Talent winners Reality show winners Pilipinas Got Talent contestants Star Music artists