BAGUIO CITY ? Ingrid Payaket spent her early years as a performer literally in the shadow of Marky Cielo, the 20-year-old Igorot television star whose career was cut short with his sudden death two years ago.

When Cielo was the star dancer of Saint Louis University?s Center for Culture and the Arts performing troupe, Payaket usually stood in the back as a member of the glee club.

A month ago, it was Payaket?s turn to shine. She became a finalist in the ABS-CBN talent search ?Pilipinas Got Talent.?
She wasn?t the only Cordilleran in the tilt. The dance group Baguio Metamorphosis, headed by Karen Navarette-Anton, placed second. A semifinalist was the Baguio pop reggae group, Powerpuff Corn.

These acts got to the top by proudly wearing their Igorot identity, as Cielo did.

Anton, a dance school owner, used her mother?s roots as a Kankanaey from Mt. Province and Benguet to generate Igorot votes.

In its Facebook and Multiply accounts, the Baguio Metamorphosis emphasized that its members are from various schools in the country?s summer capital.

Newspaper ads

The group bought advertising space in a local weekly to encourage readers to support it through text votes.

Meanwhile, the group?s members ? including Navarette-Anton?s Aloha Dance Group and Baguio Amplified, a hip-hop dance group ? created new moves that dazzled the judges during the semifinal round.

But the Powerpuff Corn duo was less successful, possibly because they relied more on their popularity among the Baguio youth, rather than their Cordilleran heritage. Lead singer Bryan Utleg is the son of a Baguio folk singer whose signature hit is ?Igorota.?

Payaket?s climb to the top wasn?t all that easy, though. Although her Igorot heritage is unquestioned, (her father is from the upland town of Tubo, Abra; her mother, from Besao, Mt. Province and Kabayan, Benguet), Payaket had to do it, to paraphrase her favorite song, ?On My Own.?

?I went to ukay-ukay (used clothes) shops, including some in Cubao, and campaigned like a politician,? she said.

These shops had been instrumental in pushing Cielo to mainstream entertainment, when he won as the ?Ultimate Survivor? in the GMA 7 reality show ?StarStruck? in 2006.

Igorotak look

Throughout her campaign, Payaket was wearing the Igorotak (?I am an Igorot?) shirt.

She also used the Internet to reach out to Cordillera workers abroad. Voting in ?Pilipinas Got Talent? was conducted online and via SMS, by purchasing The Filipino Channel phone cards.

?Some couldn?t vote online, so they gave me money so I could do the voting for them,? Payaket said.

Some Baguio residents hung tarpaulins that proclaimed support for the Baguio talents, the sight competing with posters of candidates in the May 10 elections.

In the last semifinals, Baguio Metamorphosis got the biggest number of votes and thus got the top slot. Payaket came in third, but she won the hearts of judges Kris Aquino and Ai Ai de las Alas for saying she wanted to be a champion for indigenous peoples.

Although the two Cordillera finalists eventually lost in the finals, their paths to success seem set. Baguio Metamorphosis has been invited to perform in Laguna. Bookings for Payaket, on the other hand, have been mostly close to home.

She sang during the inauguration of officials in Benguet and Baguio City. More recently, she was guest performer during the Cordillera Day celebration on July 15.

Goodwill envoy

Last week, Benguet Board Member Nelson Dangwa filed a resolution making Payaket the ?Ambassadress of Goodwill for Benguet and the Cordilleras.?

The singing Nursing graduate of SLU said everything happening has been overwhelming. ?I draw my strength from God, family and friends,? she said. ?I draw inspiration from my kailian [community] and kababayan [town and province mates].?