Charice joins ‘Glee’ for real

By ROWENA JOY A. SANCHEZ
June 22, 2010, 6:16pm

Filipina international singing sensation Charice will join the cast of the US musical series "Glee" next season.

Charice announced so via her Twitter account on June 22. “It's official. I'm on Glee (next season)…” read her post.

The singer clarified, though, that “when d rumor came out, it wasn't true. But then after that, I tried to audition. And I made it!!! Let's Party!!!!”

Charice, according to Entertainment Weekly, will play the role of a foreign exchange student who will get in the nerves of New Directions’ lead star, Rachel Berry (Lea Michele).

Recall that the “Pyramid” singer got into controversy about a month ago after another local publication reported that Grace Mendoza, Charice’s Philippine manager, confirmed that her ward will be joining the second season of “Glee.”

The petite belter denied the report as soon as it came out.

“I just want to let you all know that it's not true that I'm going to be on Glee... How I wish! Haha,” she tweeted on May 26. Her mother, Racquel, as well as her US manager Marc Johnston, backed Charice’s statement.

However, her publicist Liz Rozenberg did not completely deny the buzz. Instead, Rosenberg intimated in an interview on one of Charice’s fan sites that she might be on “Glee,” but “not at this time.”

Charice’s “Glee” casting rumor fanned out when the 18-year old international star excitedly hinted during her Manila album launch on May 23 that she has a “big surprise” for her fans.

“Meron akong big surprise. Pero hindi ko muna sasabihin ngayon. I’m sure matutuwa kayo. A lot of people are talking about this thing. Very, very happy ako na naging part ako… ng… ng… eto,” were her exact words.

She eventually dropped the “bomb” by saying that her surprise pertains to a “show.”

“Glee” has won numerous awards, including “Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy” at the Golden Globe Awards, Gay People’s Choice Awards, People’s Choice Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards, to name a few.

Its first season attracted six to 13 million viewers when it aired from May 2009 to June 2010. The season finale garnered nearly 11 million viewers, making it the “highest-rated season-ender for all freshman series,” according to Entertainment Weekly.