After wowing the audience at and winning in the junior division of the recently concluded World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA), tweener belter Rhap Salazar had gone on to perform on the show of popular TV host-actress Ellen DeGeneres last Nov. 17.

DeGeneres said she saw Salazar via YouTube, same as with her first ‘discovery,’ Charice Pempengco.

On “DeGeneres,” Salazar performed an eardrum-rupturing version of Celine Dion’s “All By Myself,” the same piece he performed at WCOPA.

DeGeneres went on to describe Salazar’s singing voice as “incredible” and having so much “power and emotion.”

During a short Q&A, DeGeneres asked the 12-year-old singer who his favorite singers are.

Surprisingly, Salazar gave an all girl line-up, namely Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, and Beyonce Knowles.

Salazar is the fourth Filipino musical act to appear on DeGeneres’ show after Pempengco, Arnel Pineda of Journey, and Rin on the Rox. Pempengco and Salazar are products of ABS-CBN’s kiddie talent search “Little Big Star Season 1” in 2005. 

It was DeGeneres herself, through her sponsors, who shouldered Salazar’s trip to the US.