Singer-actress Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco (Charice) was born in San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines. She was raised by her mother and started joining singing competitions at an early age. Her stint in the Little Big Star was posted on YouTube and caught the attention of many. She was invited by a music company in Sweden to do a demo-recording. She was later invited to South Korea's Star King, belted "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" and did a duet with Super Junior's Kyuhyun.
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| International Singing Sensation |
When Ellen DeGeneres saw her Star King performance on YouTube, she invited Charice to guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She then appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the "World's Smartest Kids" episode. Oprah dubbed her as the Most Talented Girl in the World and contacted legendary music producer David Foster who took her under his wings. She has performed with the best if not the greatest in the international music scene from Andrea Bocelli to Celine Dion. An international album then followed featuring the hit single Pyramid featuring Iyaz. The album landed in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 album chart, a first time for an Asian artist. She then was casted to play the role of a Filipino exchange student Sunshine Corazon in Glee's Season 2. Her character would be the rival of the show's lead character Rachel Berry played by Lea Michelle.
