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Pinoy eyes top spot in 'America Meet World'

Nace Cruz in "Gutom," his entry to the global video contest, whose winner will go to New York to get tips from the executives of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” (Contributed photo).

He’s a doctor by profession; a comedian by avocation.  Now, Dr. Nace Cruz of St. Luke’s Medical Center , Global City could win the top spot in the global comedy video contest America Meet World – if more of his fellow Pinoys, and the international judges vote for his video, "Junjun ang Pulubing Active sa Social Network episode 1 Gutom."

He is leading in the race,  surpassing most of the other finalists (there are 15 of them chosen from a field of 138 entries) from 21 countries all over the world.

Uphill climb

Cruz admits it has been an uphill climb.

The first reactions he got from the video were, "Ang chubby ng pulubi."   Cruz also told Yahoo Philippines. He added  that it took awhile for people to warm up to comedy.

Cruz himself wrote and starred in the video which shows a beggar in tattered shirt roaming the streets.   The twist in the end justifies the title “Junjun: The Social Network Savvy Beggar.”  

“The character of Junjun Pulubi was born out of the absurdities of social media where I gave it a satirical twist by showing how vast its reach was, to actually affect even the life of our favorite beggar,”  Cruz says.

Only Filipino

He feels proud of being the only Filipino in the international  contest, and is asking for more help until March 4, the last day of voting.

The grand prize is a trip to New York, where the winner will get advice from award-winning executives  of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”

To vote, go to  https://www.americameetworld.com/submissions/355.  Register with either your FB account or email.  Click on the highlighted thumbs up sign.

Cruz says one can vote up to ten times. If you refresh the page,  keep clicking thumbs up until the number of votes stop increasing.