For bringing honor to the country by her singing
talent, Laguna native Charice Pempengco was given the chance to meet President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in person.
She was scheduled to meet the President
January 4, for a courtesy call at the Malacañang Palace at 6:00
pm.
Charice
became an Internet singing
sensation when her fans posted her videos (in singing contests) in the
video-sharing site Youtube.com. This paved the way for her to be known in Asia,
in the United States, and even in Europe. She was invited to guest
in Star King, a televised talent contest in Korea, and
even got to meet some Korean stars such as Kim Jung-Eun of the Koreanovela Lovers
in Paris, whom she was a fan of when it was shown in ABS-CBN.
PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) reported in July 2007 that she landed
a recording contract with a Swedish recording label, Ten Songs Productions. Charice and Star Records managing
director Annabelle Regalado-Borja traveled all the way to Stockholm, Sweden,
last June 14 to July 21 to start the demo recordings. The young Filipina singer
then recorded six songs of various genres to cater to the U.S. and U.K. markets.
But her biggest break so far was her appearance on the December 19
episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Charice was personally invited
by Ellen DeGeneres to perform in her show
that was being taped in Los Angeles, California.
The NBC show was aired in the East Coast from 2 to 3 p.m. EST.
The American TV host-comedienne learned about
Charice through her YouTube videos and described the young Filipina singer as
"amazing."
In the American television show, Charice performed "And I Am Telling You" performed by Jennifer Hudson in the film Dream Girls and Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." She received two standing ovations from the audience while Ellen presented her with an iPod Touch to replace Charice's iPod, which was lost during her flight to the United States.
The 14-year old singer is also the newest addition to the pool of talents of
Star Records. Charice was a finalist in Little Big Star, a children's singing contest hosted by Sarah
Geronimo. She placed second in the show's Big Division (for 10-13 year old
competitors), behind Sam Concepcion and Gian Barbarona.
At the rate she's going, this young Filipina diva is well on her way to becoming one of the biggest and brightest teen stars ready to captivate the international market. ABS-CBN and Star Records are truly proud to have Charice as a Kapamilya.