Boss Vic del Rosario knew next to nothing about her. Only that she's popular on the Internet. The CEO of Viva Entertainment hadn't even seen any of her hit videos on Youtube.But when he laid eyes on her for the first time Thursday he knew instantly that he was in the presence of a star, albeit one who speaks "panny".
Petra Mahalimuyak is a feisty fashion-forward Filipina who speaks in fluent but heavily accented English.
Boss Vic, who charts the careers of Sarah Geronimo, Anne Curtis, Vice Ganda, Cristine Reyes, and Willie Revillame, is confident that Petra Mahalimuyak can cross over to Philippine showbiz in a big way now that she has signed a management contract with Viva Artist Agency.
He wants Petra to be on TV, in movies, on the live stage, in CDs. "She is a new kind of comedienne—maganda, magaling, matalino!” he quipped after being bowled over by Petra during their first meeting in his office.
She looked every inch a leading lady in a chic royal blue mini-dress that showed off her fetching figure. It was only when she slipped into Petra mode to perform a short medley of her biggest viral hits that the "panny" girl emerged.
Yes, for the uninitiated, Petra Mahalimuyak is just a character. It was created last year by then-18-year-old Filipino-American model Ashley Rivera, who was born in Los Angeles, grew up in the Philippines and moved to Las Vegas in 2010.
"Petra is my alter ego," Ashley said. "She's the exaggerated version of me. She'll do whatever she wants. And she sincerely doesn't give a pack."
Petra Mahalimuyak, whose surname means "fragrant" in Filipino, was born out of boredom while Ashley was adjusting to her life in Las Vegas. She made her Youtube debut almost a full year ago, on April 12, with the video, "Make Up Tutorial by Petra M."
To date, her Youtube channel has over 50,000 subscribers, and it has also played host to Ashley's other characters, including the British fashionista Tiffany Madison and Petra's best friend, Jora Echusera.
Her 40-plus self-produced videos of tutorials, parodies, and skits—shot mostly in her bathroom using her iPhone—have received over 9 million total views. Her biggest hit, "How to get abs in 1 min," has been viewed 1,098,561 times as of presstime.
"I absolutely love entertaining people," said Ashley. "It's a passion of mine. I love to dance, act, sing, cook and just have fun. I don't take things too seriously. I just go with the flow."
Did she say cook? Yes, Ashley is a graduate of the Center for Asian Culinary Studies and could certainly carry her own cooking show.
With Boss Vic paving the way, she can expect mainstream Filipino audiences to soon bear witness to her considerable comedic skills.
On Saturday afternoon, Petra Mahalimuyak had a meet-and-greet session with her Facebook fans at Fez in Serendra in Taguig City.
source: interaksyon.com
