Sol3 Mio star comes second in prestigious competition

Pene Pati of Sol3 Mio has come second in the prestigious Operalia competition. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Sol3 Mio's Pene Pati has come in second in Placido Domingo's prestigious opera competition, Operalia.

In an emotional Facebook video, Pati described coming in second in the competition, while also winning the Audience Award.

"The audience award to me is one of the best feelings because you know that everyone in that theatre loved you," he said in the video.

Pati performed two arias in the final - Gaetano Donizetti's Tombe degli avi miei from Lucia di Lammermoor and José Serrano's La roca fría del calvario from La Dolorosa.

Pene Pati received his award from Placido Domingo

He won $30,000 in prize money.

Operalia, the World Opera competition was founded in 1993 by Plácido Domingo to discover promising young opera singers.

Ioan Hotea of Romania and Lise Davidsen of Norway took out first place in the competition, which is hosted in a different city every year.

Pene Pati (far right) with the winners of Placido Domingo's Operalia competition

- nzherald.co.nz