Young Filipino trio TNT Boys received a surprise visit from international pop star Ariana Grande on Tuesday, February 19 during their appearance on “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”
The young performers Keifer Sanchez, Mackie Empuerto and Francis Concepcion were shocked when the chart-topping artist suddenly appeared onstage while they sang “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” by Jennifer Hudson.
Prior to their performance on Tuesday night’s show, Corden recalled his first meeting with the young Filipino singers, saying that Concepcion was amazed by the talk show host because he had met Grande before. He told the trio to say “hi” to Grande because she “sometimes watches the show.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq1laX_Di_Q
The Filipino singers, who are also self-professed “Arianatics,” hugged Grande as they basked in the presence of their favorite pop star.
“Thank you for having me. I’m obsessed with you guys. You guys are so incredible. That was so beautiful,” the award-winning singer said.
The trio, dubbed by Corden as the “cutest boy band” and his “favorite new boy band on planet Earth,” has now moved onto the next round of “The World’s Best,” a talent competition show on CBS.
The powerful singers impressed the show’s judges, Faith Hill, RuPaul and Drew Barrymore. They also earned the approval of the “wall of the world,” which is composed of 50 of the world’s most accomplished experts from every field of entertainment, including Filipina singer Pops Fernandez.
Sanchez, Empuerto and Concepcion have performed for several state leaders including Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Singaporean President Halimah Yacob, and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’ Neill.
They also performed in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Philippines franchises of the show “Little Big Shots.”
The talented boys became a trio in 2017 for ABS-CBN show, “Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids,” where they were the grand winner of the second season.
Before their big break as a group, they were individual grand finalists of the segment in “It’s Showtime’s: Tawag ng Tanghalan (TNT) Kids,” thus earning the title TNT Boys.
