Charice: Proudly Philippine Made

In two days, Charice Pempengco will conquer US television – but even before the "most talented girl in the world" appears on Glee on 21st September, her legion of fans from around the world are already raving, anticipating big time and pulling out all the stars on the internet to make her the next supernova. Views of her You Tube videos, blogs, forum discussions and other social networking sites tackling about her Glee role has sprouted atomically, some genuine, some just riding over her popularity. Amidst all controversies, one thing is sure to happen, she is destined for something bigger.

I will not die in shame to admit that Charice has a huge fan in me, it's because I am Filipino and she's a Filipino conquering a stage where no other fellow has previously stood. From the very first time I saw her at tender age showing her vocal prowess in a local television's singing contest, I believed right away that her undeniable talent will take her far. And after only a few years, despite a difficult beginning, time hasn’t proved me wrong. Charice has become more than a household name internationally, but a giant source of pride and reflection of how aside from talented, resilient we Filipinos are.

Life hasn’t always been easy for Charice. At young age, she was joining singing contest left and right to help her mother survive living after they have left her abusive father. She had participated in over a hundred singing contests since then and though she has the voice that blows the roof, sometimes she would come home with a heartbreaking loss. Nonetheless, she persevered, hoped and believed in her dreams. Through You Tube and a fanatic's vision of her spectacular talent, she dramatically gained prominence and the rest, as they is history. So far, she had appeared twice on Korea's Star King, The Paul O'Grady Show, The Ellen deGeneres Show, four times on Oprah, Good Morning America and Dr. Phil. She had shared the stage already with Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli and has David Foster as mentor. She had starred as herself in "Alvin and the Chipmunks". Had the a Billboard Top 8 debut album and a Billboard Dance Chart No. 1 single. To top it all, she will be appearing on a recurring role in TV's most successful musical, Glee which premiers on Tuesday.

Charice performing "Listen" in Glee

Charice has definitely come a long way. If you see her today, many have changed about her, eye color, hair dyes, outfits, the way she sings, the way she speaks and "you know", many other things that you don’t want to know. But her heart still echoes the same sound as when she was born. One of the songs in her debut albums has a partially Tagalog lyrics. Her character in Glee is a Filipina exchange student with an exceptional vocal talent. Next month, she joins David Foster in a concert at the Araneta Coliseum. The world has embraced her talent but still she feels she owes it to share her honor to the land where she came from.

I seldom listen to FM radios here in Dubai. But one time I tuned in the office, I was so surprised to hear Charice's Pyramid got played over Dubai's Virgin Radio. It gave me so much joy and pride to hear someone of my race given such a important airplay. She's singing, I know. But I guess she's doing more than that. She's telling everyone that success awaits those who have faith in their dreams. She's telling everyone that if it's from the Philippines, it must be good.