If I were you

These days there are few reasons for me to be proud of my country. I will not elaborate this statement further, one look at how the global news media covers stories about the Philippines is explanation enough.

Imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw this video clip while browsing at YouTube. The video was that of a Korean musical variety show or contest–I couldn’t tell because the show was in Korean, it took me a while to find the version with English subtitles, but the girl who was wowing the audience was clearly a Filipina (based on her looks and the way she sung in English). She sang ‘And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going’ from the musical ‘DreamGirls’ in a way that almost equaled the version of Jennifer Hudson in the movie and surpassed that of Regine Velasquez’ performance at the Asia-Pacific Music Festival in Hong Kong in 1988.

Though I found the way she moved as incongruous to the song (blame it on her young age), and the lyric change (from ‘the best man’ to ‘the best mom’) bothersome, her voice was simply remarkable. I can imagine how she would sound years into the future, when age and experience has enriched her life and personality.

Her name is Charice Pempengco, she’s about 15 years old, and I learned that before her YouTube video became a hit, she was a runner-up in Little Big Star, a televised singing contest for kids. Watching her video really made me feel good and proud as a Filipino.

Months later, that particular video made its way to the producers of the Ellen Degeneres’ talk show and soon thereafter she aired the video in one of the show’s regular portion, announcing the search for this unknown girl to be a guest on her top-rated show. This segment of Ellen appeared yet again in YouTube, setting off a buzz in the blogging community, making its way further into news programs.

And last week, Charice made her American television debut on Ellen. She sang two songs: ‘And I’m  Telling You I’m Not Going’ and Whitney Houston’s version of ‘I Will Always Love You’. The two songs were heavily edited a la American Idol, where high-note portions of the song gets meshed together, which to me failed to showcase Charice’s full vocal range. See for yourself and compare it to her singing in the Korean show.

Nevertheless, Ellen and her audience looked equally impressed. I mean, who wouldn’t? She really has a great voice; though she could use a bit of coaching on speaking and diction (a very minor quibble). With this auspicious appearance and the warm reception accorder her, I am sure that efforts will be exerted so she can have an American career. The presence of immigration lawyer Michael Gurfinkel at the airport is a bit of an indicator. In the coming months, Charice will herself join the ranks of OFW (overseas Filipino workers) on the quest for a better life (or showbiz career) in a foreign country.

I wish Charice nothing but the best. I hope she doesn’t end up like Josephine ‘Banig’ Roberto (the tiny Ang Bagong Kampeon (The New Champion) grand winner who defeated Christina Aguilera on Star Search in 1989 and amazed another talk show host, Arsenio Hall), who slipped into obscurity after she and her family migrated to the US so she can pursue a career as a singer.

As a fellow blogger wrote, Charice made Filipinos feel wonderful about being a Filipino in the US. I’m not anywhere near the states but I still feel the same. Mabuhay ka, Charice!