Abu Dhabi’s Peter Rosalita earns standing ovation on America’s Got Talent: All-Stars

Filipino singer aged 11 smashed his talent show comeback, earning high praise from judges

Abu Dhabi-born Peter Rosalita made a roaring comeback to the America's Got Talent stage on Saturday. Instagram / peter.rosalita

Abu Dhabi’s Peter Rosalita has made a spectacular comeback to the America’s Got Talent stage.

Dressed in a three-piece cream suit, the Filipino singer wowed judges and the audience with a powerful rendition of Michael Bolton’s Go The Distance.

Despite having a sore throat, Peter looked confident during his America’s Got Talent: All-Stars performance, and hit the high notes with ease.

His efforts earned him a standing ovation from the audience and all three judges, Howie Mandel, Simon Cowell and Heidi Klum. Host Terry Crews commented, “The judges are on their feet”.

Cowell told the singer that his voice had gotten better since his last appearance on the show.

“Peter, you are very old-fashioned, even in terms of what you wear, the kind of songs you sing. However, your voice has actually got better. Now I know there’s still a lot of people to come, having said that, that might be enough to put you through to the finals,” said the music executive.

Klum called Peter, who is a student at Richmindale school in Abu Dhabi, “one of the best-dressed men in showbiz”.

The episode will be shown on Monday on NBC.

In an interview with AGT before his performance, the young singer spoke about his last appearance on the show, during season 16.

“I got far to the semi-finals and I got very nervous and there was that hiccup,” said Peter, referring to the moment he had to ask for the music to be restarted. He eventually lost the finals to Dustin Tavella.

“Being on America’s Got Talent changed my life,” said Peter.

“Now that I'm back, I feel more confident and I grew a little. This is my second chance, I’m gonna make sure that there will be no hiccups.”

Peter's original audition, during which he sang Celine Dion's version of All By Myself, has been watched more than 10 million times on YouTube, and was praised by the Canadian songstress on Twitter.

America's Got Talent: All-Stars is a spin-off of the original talent show and includes past winners, finalists and fan favourites from across previous seasons of the franchise, all competing for the All-Star title.

“It is still nerve-racking thinking that I have to compete with the best of the best on AGT All-Stars,” he previously told The National. “But I also feel confident and proud and happy that they have chosen me to be one of the performers and will be performing along with those global talent stars.”

Scroll through the gallery below to see more of Peter Rosalita's America's Got Talent journey