Mikey Bustos stars in Prison Dancer

Mikey Bustos

I first heard about Mikey Bustos when he made the local news as yet another Filipino living overseas making waves as a finalist at Canadian Idol years ago. So when his Filipino accent tutorial video over at YouTube went viral, I had to double check to see if this Mikey Bustos was indeed the same person from Canadian Idol since he sounded very different in the video. I wouldn’t be surprised that some people who first encountered him through his videos would be equally surprised and baffled as well when they find out about his Canadian Idol experience. And with this sudden and unexpected second wind, Mikey was met with various opportunities here in the Philippines like a product endorsement, various television and radio guest appearances that enabled him to showcase his pipes.

Mikey made his mark through music and a viral video and he has gone full circle as he stars in Prison Dancer, a musical online series that is inspired by the Dancing Inmates of Cebu viral video from a couple of years ago. This 12 episode online web series launching in March 2012 stars YouTube discoveries and some Filipino talents emerging in North America namely Mikey Bustos, Jeigh Madjus, Catherine Ricafort, Matt Wells, Ron Josol, Nicco Lorenzo, Norman Alconcel, Pierre Bayuga and Joseph Sevillo. This interactive series tells the story of six Filipino prisoners whose lives are forever changed by the dancing rehabilitation program that has amused and entertained millions of viewers on YouTube.

One rather unexpected development in Mikey’s career is that some people now refer to him as Mang Juan. Mikey, more specifically his tutorial video persona has become an endorser of the Mang Juan line of snacks by the Universal Robina Corporation and the television ads for the Chicharron ni Mang Juan exposed him more to a mainstream audience. And he feels that this product is very much in line with the essence of his videos which is promoting Filipino culture and values and the snacks are indeed very much Filipino. And I couldn’t help munching on them during the Bloggers’ Conference that was held recently at the Crowne Plaza.

With so much going on for Mikey, he still has some dream projects like releasing an album locally and working with local composers like Ryan Cayabyab. But for now, he’s loving the Philippines so much, looking forward to Prison Dancer, uploading more videos especially now that he’s been touring around the country and also munching another bag of Chicharron ni Mang Juan.