The sixth season of Pilipinas Got Talent premiered on ABS-CBN from January 6 to April 29, 2018, replacing Little Big Shots and was replaced by the second season of Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids.
Billy Crawford and Toni Gonzaga hosted the season, with Toni replacing Luis Manzano, who was unavailable due to other commitments. Freddie M. Garcia, Robin Padilla, Angel Locsin, and Vice Ganda returned as judges.
Kristel de Catalina, a 32-year-old spiral pole dancer from Antipolo, Rizal, was crowned the season's winner. Wheelchair dancers Julius Obrero and Rhea Marquez from Pasig finished as the runner-up, while 28-year-old comedian Joven Olvido from Laguna secured third place. This season marked the second consecutive victory for a non-singing act on the show.
In March 2020, the season temporarily returned to air on Sundays, filling the second half timeslot of The Voice Teens, due to the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon done in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. However, the re-runs were abruptly cut after ABS-CBN was forced to indefinitely stop operations.
Development During the June 3, 2017, episode of It's Showtime, Billy Crawford announced that there will be auditions for the sixth season of the show. A teaser was shown during the commercial break of It's Showtime and the finals of I Can Do That. The initial audition dates and locations were shown during the commercial break of the Battles of The Voice Teens on June 11, 2017.
Host and judges
In October 2017, ABS-CBN released several teasers that showed every judge from the previous season. Billy Crawford returned for his hosting duty while Luis Manzano no longer returned as host since he is also hosting the game show I Can See Your Voice. Manzano was replaced by Toni Gonzaga. Jervi Li, commonly known as KaladKaren Davila, hosts the online show Pilipinas Got Talent Exclusives which is broadcast on the official YouTube and Facebook accounts of the show.
2020 re-run As a result of the 2020 Luzon enhanced community quarantine, the sixth season of Pilipinas Got Talent returned on air on March 29, 2020, temporarily replacing the second season of The Voice Teens on Sundays until the network was forced off the air.
Auditions Pre-auditions The pre-auditions for the sixth season took place in key cities in the Philippines. Pre-auditions were held in Manila, Baguio, Lucena, Batangas, and Cebu. The pre-auditions were judged by Pilipinas Got Talent staff; those who passed will proceed to the live auditions.
Date of Pre-Audition Pre-Audition Venue CityRef. July 1–2, 2017 Baguio City National High School Baguio, Benguet July 8–9, 2017 Benedicto College Mandaue City, Cebu July 15–16, 2017 ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center Quezon City, Metro Manila July 10, 2017 – 2017 Online Auditions August 13, 2017 University of Batangas Batangas City August 19, 2017 ABS-CBN Center Road Metro Manila October 28, 2017 August 20, 2017 Pacific Mall Lucena Lucena City October 28, 2017 Shopwise Cebu City Robinsons Place Iloilo City October 29, 2017 Robinsons Place Tacloban City Robinsons Place BacolodDecember 15, 2017Alfonso Covered CourtAlfonso, CaviteDecember 28, 2017Mena G. Valencia GymnasiumNaujan, Oriental Mindoro
Live auditions The first live auditions in front of the four judges were taped on November 20–22, 2017 at the SM Seaside City Cebu in Cebu City. The Manila leg of live auditions will be taped on January 10–12 at Tanghalang Pasigueño in Pasig, Metro Manila.
Date of Live Audition Live Audition Venue CityRef. November 20–21, 2017 SM Seaside City Cebu City November 22, 2017 SM Seaside Block 5 Open Area January 10–12, 2018 Tanghalang Pasigueño Pasig, Metro Manila
Like the previous season, voting works on a majority-of-three basis. If an act receives three or more "yes" votes from the judges, they advance to the judges' cull.
The live auditions once again feature the Golden Buzzer. Each judge would have one chance to use the Golden Buzzer throughout the auditions. New for this season, apart from the judges, the hosts (as one) get an opportunity to press the Golden Buzzer, bringing the total number of Golden Acts to five. The so-called Golden Acts, those on whom the Golden Buzzer is used, would automatically advance to the semifinals. Garcia was the first to press his golden buzzer for the pull up bars exhibition group, Bardilleranz. Locsin was next to press the golden buzzer for the wheelchair dance duo, Julius Obrero & Rhea Marquez. Padilla used his golden buzzer for hip-hop dance group, Nocturnal Dance Company. Viceral was the last judge to use the golden buzzer and gave it to spiral pole dancer, Kristel de Catalina. Crawford and Gonzaga was the last to use the golden buzzer and gave it to the acrobatic duo, DWC Aeon Flex. Garcia, Locsin, and Padilla used their golden buzzers in the Cebu auditions while Viceral and the hosts, Crawford and Gonzaga, used their golden buzzers in the Manila auditions.
Below are the acts who are confirmed within the show to have received at least three Yes votes and thus had successfully passed their auditions, as well as the Golden Acts. The list does not cover everyone who had passed. Due to time constraints, some acts, named or otherwise, are seen with their fates partially known (only one or two known Yes vote) or edited out completely from broadcast and are thus not listed. Successful auditionees of Pilipinas Got Talent (season 6) Auditionees from Luzon Mama's Boyz, Sta. Mesa, Manila – Towel Dance Bardilleranz, Baguio – Pull-up Bars Exhibition Jiwan Kim, 20, Muntinlupa – Magic Trick Johnny Villanueva, 26, Quezon City – Pole Dancing Jonacris Bandillo, 33, Laguna – Billiard Tricks Sinag Dance Community, 13–35, San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan – Dance Kimberly Collado, 26, Cagayan – Harp and sing Karl Luigi Villareal (Karl Matrix), 30, Cavite – Illusion TV magic John Mark Bayot, 21, Cavite – Vape smoke tricks Orville Tonido, 32, Quezon City – Lipsync with dahon act Julius Obrero & Rhea Marquez, 33 & 24, Pasig & Cebu – Wheelchair dance Auditionees from Visayas Shadow Arts Theater Organization (SATO), Palo, Leyte – Shadow Play Angelisa del Rosario, 67, Cebu City – Zumba Type 1 Dance Company, Cebu City – Dance Janah Jade Lavador, 13, Cebu City – Arnis Exhibition CEBECO II Blue Knights, Cebu City – Pole Balancing Maka Girls, 20–22, Mandaue City – Sing Mary Grace Decafe, 29, Iloilo – Comedy Act Tribu Burulakaw, Iloilo City – Fire Dance Michael Aco, 27, Cebu – Sing and Act Yan-Yan and Dad Dance Duo, 10 & 38, Bacolod City – Dance Auditionees from Mindanao Auditionees from the overseas NOTE: Please be guided that this list contains the aired auditions only.
Judges Cull The Judges Cull was held at ABS-CBN Studios, Quezon City, Metro Manila. It was shown at the end of the final auditions episode on March 18, 2018. Throughout the auditions, 98 acts have received at least 3 yeses from the judges. Apart from the 5 golden buzzer acts, the judges picked 23 acts who would compete in the live semifinals, bringing the total to 28.
This is the first season to feature 28 semifinalists only, as opposed to previous seasons with 36 semifinalists (quarterfinalists in season 4). The number of semifinalists, which is not divisible by six, takes into account the five Golder Buzzer acts and the abbreviated second semifinal on April 1; the Saturday before (March 31) would be Black Saturday.
Top 28 Result Summary
Name of act Age(s) Genre Act Hometown Semifinal Week Result Kristel de Catalina 32 Variety Spiral Pole Dance Antipolo, Rizal 2 Julius Obrero & Rhea Marquez 33 & 24 Variety Wheelchair Dance Pasig 4 Joven Olvido 28 Variety Comedy Laguna 4 DWC Aeon Flex 10 & 10 Variety Acrobatic Exhibition Davao del Norte 3 Bardilleranz 18–38 Variety Pull-up Bars Exhibition Baguio 3 Nocturnal Dance Company 18–28 Dancing Hip-hop Dance Quezon City 1 Jonacris Bandillo 33 Variety Billiard tricks Laguna 5 CEBECO II Blue Knights — Variety Utility Pole Balancing Cebu 5 Xtreme Dancers 20–26 Dancing Hip-hop Dance Korondal, South Cotabato 2 Orville Tonido 33 Variety Lip-sync Act Quezon City 1 Antonio Bathan Jr. 18 Variety Spoken Word Poetry Batangas 5 Eliminated Angel Fire New Gen 12–26 Dancing Belly Dancing Cebu 5 Eliminated Dancing Fire Warriors 17–34 Variety Fire Dance Cebu 5 Eliminated Rico the Magician 67 Variety Magician Caloocan 5 Eliminated Miggy Hizon 19 Variety Yo-yo Tricks Quezon City 4 Eliminated Aloha Philippines 11–42 Dancing Poi Dance Baguio 4 Eliminated Dauntless Republic 17–23 Dancing Hip-hop Dance Cavite 4 Eliminated Karl Matrix 30 Variety Illusion Cavite 4 Eliminated Prinsipe Makata 35 Variety Poetry Bulacan 3 Eliminated Junior FMD Extreme Dancing Hip-hop Dance Marikina 3 Eliminated Mad Queens 20–27 Dancing Dance Act Manila 3 Eliminated Pedro Lachica 51 Dancing Pop and Lock Quezon City 3 Eliminated Bu-aywa Folkloric Dance Troupe 13–19 Dancing Folk Dance Calapan, Oriental Mindoro 2 Eliminated Jeptah Callitong 17 Variety Magic Ilocos Sur 2 Eliminated JM Bayot 21 Variety Vape Smoke Tricks Cavite 1 Eliminated Johnny Villanueva 26 Variety Pole Dancing Quezon City 1 Eliminated Maka Girls 20–22 Singing Singing trio Cebu 1 Eliminated Salimpokaw Ko Masa Dance Troupe 14–38 Dancing Singkil Marawi 1 Eliminated
Semifinals The Semifinals began on March 24, 2018, in Newport Performing Arts Theater, Resorts World Manila in Pasay, Metro Manila. Each week (except week 2), performances from four out of six acts took place on Saturday nights, while during Sunday nights, the two remaining acts performed and the results are announced on the same night.
Garcia missed the five semifinal rounds due to the death of his spouse. Due to his absence, his buzzer was removed from the stage, while Robin and Angel switched places.
Starting this round, the show airs at 7:30 pm during Saturdays.
Voting for the acts starts after all the acts for the week have performed. There are two ways to vote. SMS voting. Texting the name of the act to 2366. Online voting via Google. By typing the keyword PGT Vote in the search box, clickable photos of the contestants that had performed for that week will show up in the search results page; one Google account is entitled to one vote only.
Semifinals summary
Week 1 (March 24 & 25) Guest performer: PGT season 5 winner Power Duo
Contestant Order Act Buzzes and judges' votes Percentage Result Robin Angel Vice Maka Girls 1 Singing trio 6.56% Eliminated Johnny Villanueva 2 Pole dance 2.53% Eliminated Salimpokaw Ko Masa Dance Troupe 3 Cultural dance 5.85% Eliminated Orville Tonido 4 Lip-sync 19.80% Advanced Nocturnal Dance Company 5 Hip-hop dance 44.55% Advanced JM Bayot 6 Vape smoke tricks 20.70% Eliminated
Week 2 (April 1) Only 4 acts performed this week due to the Holy Week special programming until Black Saturday.
For this week, the three acts who did not win the public votes proceed to the judges' votes. In case the three acts received one vote each, the results return to the public vote.
Guest performers: Eumee Lyn Capile, Elha Nympha, AC Bonifacio, Sam Shoaf, Nyoy Volante, and PGT season 5 finalist Mastermind
Contestant Order Act Buzzes and judges' votes Percentage Result Robin Angel Vice Xtreme Dancers 1 Hip-hop dance 6.52% Advanced Jeptah Callitong 2 Magic 11.55% Eliminated Bu-aywa Folkloric Dance Troupe 3 Folk dance 2.97% Eliminated Kristel de Catalina 4 Spiral pole dance 78.96% Advanced
Week 3 (April 7 & 8) Joven Olvido, Rico the Magician, and Antonio Bathan Jr. were previously announced to perform in this round, but due to circumstances so far unknown to viewers, their performances were rescheduled to the later rounds. Junior FMD Extreme, DWC Aeon Flex, Prinsipe Makata took their places.
Guest performers: Jed Madela, BoybandPH, and TNT Boys