El Gamma Penumbra

El Gamma Penumbra is a Filipino, all male, shadow play group, best known for being the winners of the first season of Asia's Got Talent.

El Gamma Penumbra comes from two Latin words: Gamma and Penumbra, which roughly translates to "the ray of light (behind) a man's shadow".

El Gamma Penumbra was first founded in 2008 as a hip-hop boy group, competing in dance contests in Tanauan, their home town in the province of Batangas, in southwest Luzon (about a one-hour drive from Manila). Before joining Pilipinas Got Talent, however, they changed their act, thinking that there will be lesser chance of winning due to too many hip-hop dancers in the Philippines. Upon deciding to do shadow play, believing it is new and unique, they started practicing in a basketball court near Tanauan, using a tarpaulin and a halogen light as an improvisation.

They decided to produce an all-male group members, meaning females are not included, due to the "extreme body movements and contact required of their routines."

Before winning in the first season of Asia's Got Talent, El Gamma Penumbra once joined the Philippine version of the franchise last 2011. The shadow play group automatically advanced to the grand finals after receiving the highest nationwide votes from their semi-finals performance. They were the first one to get to the grand finals. The group then performed a tourism-inspired shadow play, advocating the tourist spots in the Philippines, during their grand finals performance held on October 23, 2011 at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo City. They eventually garnered the fourth spot after receiving 8.05% of the votes.

Since then, they were usually invited to perform as guest stars in various places and shows. In particular, they became regular guests in It's Showtime, performing acts such as a tribute to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who are unable to spend Christmas with their families in the Philippines, a tribute to the death anniversary of the late former senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., and an inspirational number about hope and faith performed during the Holy Week.

On September 28, 2014, El Gamma Penumbra pre-auditioned at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia for the upcoming first Asia's Got Talent to be held in Singapore. They advanced to the televised audition held at the Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios in Johor, Malaysia, wherein they were almost not able to join because of a conflict in their schedule. They chose to perform during Pope Francis' visit to the Philippines first, which was already scheduled beforehand, and was still able to fly to Malaysia for the taping. Among their 27 members, only 13 were selected to compete due to budget constraints. They eventually advanced to the semifinals night after receiving a golden buzzer by Indonesian artist Anggun, while Taiwanese singer Vanness Wu complimented: "I loved how you guys told the stories beautifully and it was just so wonderful to see live and up close. Thank you so much for that great job."