The MassKara dancers of Bacolod City, bagged the grand champion crown, and the P3 million cash prize, while two other entries from Negros also won in the It’s Showtime Inter-town Edition grand finals of ABS-CBN Saturday.

Bacolod City was hailed as the 5th Showtime grand champion and the first in its inter-town edition, after obtaining a perfect score of 10 from all the judges.

The Bailes de Luces of La Castellana, Negros Occidental tied with Lahing Anda of Pangasinan for second in the inter-town edition with score of 9.9, while Dumaguete’s Pride of Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, was third place with a score of 9.6.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said, “This is one for the history books of Bacolod. The victory catapulted the MassKara Festival to a class of its own in Philippine Tourism.”

Leonardia said “This will leave an indelible mark on our tourism promotion efforts. For sure, the image of Bacolod was enormously enhanced and so many of our people expressed their happiness, saying that they are very proud to be Bacolodnons.”

Many officials and residents from other towns and cities say that they are proud to be Filipinos because of the talent and genius that the MassKara organizers had displayed, he said.

The performance of the MassKara dancers was watched by millions of Filipinos in the Philippines and many other parts of the world who called up to congratulate the performers and the city, and express their pride in their country. It also gave a tremendous boost to world-renowned Bacolod MassKara Festival held every October, a press release from City Hall said.

The format of the inter-town edition is that of the team competing on-site at the studio and required remote support staged in its locality. The remote support for the MassKara dancers was staged at the wide lagoon of the Bacolod City Government Center.

Leonardia and Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson led the remote support consisting of several groups of performers who were showered with confetti dropped from a helicopter provided by Negros Occidental, 3rd District Rep. Albee Benitez, the release added.

Eight groups representing different municipalities and cities from all over the Philippines vied for the title of It's Showtime: The Finals Inter-town Edition Grand Champion.

Other entries were the Infinite Reform (Taytay, Rizal) with a score of 8.5 won fourth place, Amazing Paper Dolls (Olongapo City) - 8.4 was fifth, Tiklad (San Pablo City, Laguna) - 8.0 sixth, and Next Level Octomix (Caloocan City) - 7.6 seventh place.

Meanwhile, Leonardia thanked Benitez, all the choreographers Toto Bantolo, Boyet Andrada and Nidz Villones, Barangays Alijis, 17, and Cabug, the BacoLaodiat group, the Domingo Lacson, Bacolod City College and summer jobbers of Bacolod for their support that inspired the performers to do their best.*CGS

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