Biography: Charice Pempengco

Charice Pempengco

Charice is the eldest of two children of Ricky and Racquel Pempengco. She has a younger brother named Carl. Her parents separated when she was only a toddler and she stayed with her mother since then. She started singing at age 4 with Racquel acting as her primary voice coach.

At age 7, she started joining amateur singing contests mostly in town fiestas in their province of Laguna. She also had joined several competitions on TV thus making her a veteran in this field at a young age. She had joined over 80 contests in total.

In 2005, she joined Little Big Star, a reality-talent show in the Philippines that is being hosted by the Asia's Pop Princess Sarah Geronimo, loosely patterned from American Idol. She was eliminated right away after her very first performance. But she was later called back as a wildcard contender and eventually worked her way up until the finale show. She placed 2nd Runner Up with Sam Concepcion winning the grand prize.

Charice was vocally trained by her mother and was said to have never received any formal training. The New York Post once called her a vocal prodigy for being able to sing 'big songs' even in her tender age.

David Foster once mentioned in his interviews that Charice has the capability of mimicking others voices which he said, is a good characteristic of a better singer. Moreover, Josh Groban said that Charice's voice is one of the most beautiful voices he has heard in a long time.

Her voice is said to be in the mezzo-soprano vocal range, though her upper register can also be categorized as a dramatic soprano. Her vocal power and tone has always been compared to Whitney Houston, her vocal timbre and quality to Celine Dion, her R&B influence to Mariah Carey, and her belting style to Regine Velasquez. In many of her interviews, she has referred these divas to be her musical influences.

To date, one of her highest belted note is a G#5 in her live performance of "One Moment In Time".

Her favorite singers include Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Regine Velasquez.

International performances

In 2007, a series of YouTube videos of Charice's performances posted by an avid fan called FalseVoice brought her to the attention of Ten Songs/Productions based in Sweden. On June 2007, she flew to Stockholm, Sweden and recorded seven songs for them.

Another video performance influential in her internet stardom was her cover of the Dreamgirls' anthem And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going. This particular video became a hit in UCC, Korean's version of YouTube, which gained her an invite to perform on StarKing, a famous talent show in South Korea on October 2007. On the show, she also performed a duet with popular Korean group, Super Junior's member, Kyuhyun, with the song, 'A Whole New World' from Aladdin. She also sang a short rendition of 'U' by Super Junior. She later appeared on another episode of Star King and performed I Will Survive and did another duet with Korean female singer, Lena Park, singing Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You. She also sang a short version of Listen.

In December 2007, she flew to the US for the first time after being personally invited by Ellen DeGeneres to come and guest on her show. She performed Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You and her popular cover of And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going.

Right after she came back from Ellen, she became an instant celebrity in the Philippines becoming one of the most sought-after young singers in the country.

In April 2008, she wowed the UK audience as she guested in London's The Paul O'Grady Show where she performed two songs and earned standing ovations, the first to happen since the show started.

In May 2008, Charice guested on The Oprah Winfrey Show in their World's Most Smartest Kids episode. She sang Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing that left Oprah and the audience in awe.

In the same month, Charice was introduced to the international concert arena by no less, David Foster on his tribute concert called David Foster and Friends at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

In July 2008, she was personally invited by Andrea Bocelli to be one of his guests on his birthday concert titled The Cinema Tribute which was held in Lajatico, Italy. Aside from her solo performances, she also did a soulful duet of the song The Prayer with Andrea Bocelli. On September 6 2008, she performed before more than 50,000 football fans at Feyenoord's Centennial Anniversary titled Festival of the Century in The Netherlands where she sang the team's theme song, You'll Never Walk Alone.

On September 9 2008, she once again guested on The Oprah Winfrey Show on the 'Dream Comes True' episode where Oprah referred to her as 'The Most Talented Girl in the World.' She sang My Heart Will Go On with David Foster on piano. After which, Oprah surprised her when she had the chance to meet Celine Dion via satellite to receive a special proposal to sing a duet with her in Madison Square Garden.

On September 15, 2008, Charice finally sang a duet with Celine Dion. They dedicated the song Because You Loved Me to her mother who was also in the audience. Their duet brought the audience to their feet and received raving applause.

(from www.wikipedia.org)