Charice

Next to Christmas and New Year’s Day, undoubtedly the most important event in the year’s social calendar is Valentine’s Day. Dedicated to the human emotion of love, the milestone is celebrated with various special activities intended to cement the bond of love and affection among lovers, families and friends.

While a bunch of roses, a box of chocolates, a dinner at a first-class restaurant or a late-night movie have been traditional Valentine features, musical entertainment, such as concerts featuring top artists and performers, has gained wide popularity over the years as wonderful and memorable activities to fittingly mark the celebration.

This coming Valentine’s Day, join teen singing sensation Charice Pempengco as she celebrates the Season of Love through her music during a special concert on Feb. 14, 2010 at the Plenary Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

Billed as “Ryan Cayabyab’s Charice In Concert,” the one-night musical event to be mounted by Xclusive Hits & Events, Inc. will also feature Erik Santos, George Yang and Mr. Ogie Alcasid as special guests.

Special production numbers will also be presented by the Ryan Cayabyab Singers.

To be directed by Ryan Cayabyab, the Valentine concert will showcase the extraordinary talent and style of the 17-year-old singing wonder as she performs an awesome repertoire of pop, R&B and soul hits popularized by her singing idols Whitney Houston, Celine Dion and Mariah Carey, among others.

A product of numerous singing contests since age seven – from town fiestas in her native province of Laguna to vocal competitions on television – Charice gained worldwide recognition in 2007 after videos of her live performances were posted on YouTube, garnering millions of hits that turned her into an Internet phenomenon.

After a video of her rendition of the “Dreamgirls” anthem, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” became a hit on a Korean video-sharing website, she was invited to the South Korean talent show, “Star King,” where she performed the same song together with “A Whole New World” with Kyuhyun from “Super Junior.”

Charice got her big break when she appeared in the Dec. 19, 2007 episode of the top-rated “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” where she sang “I Will Always Love You” and “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.”

Five months later, she was a guest on the hugely popular “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” where she performed Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” to the delight of the host, who subsequently recommended her to be under the wings of music producer David Foster.   

Her association with Foster marked a major turning point in Charice’s career and opened new doors to more and bigger opportunities in the international music and entertainment industry.

She performed with Foster for the first time as one of the entertainers during the May 17 opening of MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut, followed by her debut on the international concert stage in Foster’s May 23 tribute concert, “Hitman: David Foster and Friends,” at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, where she performed a medley of songs from “The Bodyguard” and her standard, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.”

When the program returned to the Mandalay Bay last spring, Charice received no less than six standing ovations from an obviously delighted audience.

In between her two Vegas appearances, Charice went on to perform with Andrea Bocelli during her birthday concert on Sept. 26, 2008 in his hometown of Lajatico, Tuscany, Italy, where, aside from her solo numbers, she also did a duet of “The Prayer” with the famous tenor in front of more than 8,000 people.

She also sang a duet of “Because You Loved Me” with Celine Dion on Sept. 15, 2008 at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, which received rave reviews in The New York Post and The New York Times. The performance was eventually featured on the Sept. 19, 2008 episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

She made her second appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” on Sept. 9, 2008, during which the famous host described her at “The Most Talented Girl In The World” after hearing her perform Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” with Foster on the piano.

During her most recent appearance on the same program, Charice elicited the ultimate tribute from Oprah: “You are a force to be reckoned with. That voice comes from something bigger than yourself. You’re pulling it up out of some place deeper than your little body.”

The singer’s outstanding vocal quality – which has been compared with those of Whitney Houston and Celine Dion (she also considers Mariah Carey and Regine Velasquez as her other musical influences) – likewise prompted a chorus of praises from other musical and entertainment celebrities.

In a TV interview, David Foster mentioned that Charice has the ability to mimic other people’s voices which, according to him, is characteristic of good singers, while Josh Groban stated in another report that her voice is one of the most beautiful he has heard in a long time.

The New York Post once called her a vocal prodigy for being able to sing “big songs” even in her tender age.

2009 was a banner year for Charice, who spent a great part of it in America, recording her debut US album, performing as one of the headlining acts in the “David Foster and Friends” 10-city North American tour, and appearing in her first feature film, “Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel.”

Her first US album is due for release in February or March, 2010, with the carrier single, “Pyramid,” available in the market in January.

“Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel” premiered in the US last Dec. 23 and will open in Philippine theaters on Jan. 8, 2010. Aside from appearing as herself in the film, Charice is also part of the official movie soundtrack with her rendition of “No One” by Alicia Keys, accompanied by The Chipettes.

As the year was about to end, Charice added another feather to her cap when she topped an online poll by the Oprah Winfrey show, beating seven global singing superstars: Whitney Houston, James Taylor, Michael Bublé, Rascal Flatts, Jennifer Hudson, Journey and Black Eyed Peas.

Charice emerged as the winner of the “Best Oprah Show Musical Performance” award, receiving 70 percent of total votes for her performance of “Note To God,” her debut international single that she launched on the show last May 18, 2009.

The song, written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster, peaked at No. 35 in the Canadian Hot 100 and No. 44 in the US Billboard Hot 100.

Her coming Valentine’s Day show brings back the singing sensation to the local concert scene eight months after her first major solo concert last June 27 at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia.

(Tickets to “Ryan Cayabyab’s Charice In Concert” are priced at P5,808, P5,492, P5,069, P4,541, P4,013, P2,957, P1,901 and P845 and are available at Ticketnet outlets located at all SM Department Stores customer service area and at the Araneta Coliseum ticket booths.)

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Tidbits: Happy b-day greetings on Jan. 1 go to Mrs. Cristina Ponce Enrile, Rev. Sonia Yu Lim, Buddy Medina, Alfredo B. Canlas Jr., Lourdes Tapia-Tolosa, Sony Magundayao, Mylene Gamboa, Patrick Apostol, Aida dela Cruz, Violeta Villanueva, Mrs. Licerna R. Abunda, Leila C. de Leon, Elainee Yap, Mila Africa Jose, Soledad S. Siguenza, Dr. Rosalinda Suaco-Ante, Marietta Ejercito and Gemma Fritzgerald. WISHING YOU OUR DEAR READERS ALL THE BEST IN 2010!