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Meet Charice, a sixteen-year-old singing sensation from the Philippines. Singing contests got her started. The Internet lit a fire under her career. And Oprah and Ellen used their influence to give her a hand up into stardom. Now, she’s featured on the “Hitman: David Foster and Friends” album alongside Babyface and Michael Buble. Way to get your mom out of the garment factory!
Born in 1993 in San Pedro Laguna, Charice Pempengco had a lot to overcome. Domestic violence forced her mother to leave Dad, then pull 16-hour shifts at a sewing machine to make ends meet. Charice started singing at age four; her “concert debut” was at a Balibago basketball game at age seven. Wanting to earn income to help Momma, young Charice began working the Filipino singing-contest circuit soon after. “Even if the prizes are $50 or $10, it’s big money to us,” she told reporters.
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Tags: Celine Dion, Charice, contest, David Foster, Filipino, Internet, Little Big Star, Philippines, Pinoy, singing, Star King
Somebody give me a lighter. Journey, the ultimate stadium-rock band, has just taken the stage. Oh, the guitar solos…the nostalgia. But these days, there’s a different face mixed in with the aging Frisco white guys. It’s the boyishly cute mug of Arnel Pineda, recently emigrated from the Philippines, who’s now the lead singer of the band. His story’s something of a rock-and-roll fairy tale.
