http://www.oprah.com/media/20090429-tows-charice

Who’s the next most marketable Filipino in the U.S.? It may soon be a toss-up between boxer Manny Pacquiao and Charice Pempengco (now only going by her first name). Charice is a first-generation Filipino who has both mothers (first generation) and their daughters (second generation) as her captive audience. The 16-year-old singer belts out songs enjoyed by mothers–pop ballads performed by Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and more recently, Jennifer Hudson.

Being in the entertainment business gives Charice an edge. She was reportedly scheduled to perform with Michael Jackson in the singer’s planned comeback concert in London, if not for his untimely demise, according to ABS-CBN, a Philippine media conglomerate.

Who is Charice? Charice was discovered on Youtube by Ellen De Generes. The Youtube video featured her singing in a South Korean talent show, “Star King” held on Oct. 13, 2007. De Generes was impressed by her performance that the TV host invited the then-15-year-old girl to perform in her show. Charice flew to the United States for the first time and performed two songs in the December 19, 2007 show.

Oprah Winfrey took notice and invited her to perform in the Oprah show on May 12, 2009. Oprah then recommended her to music producer David Foster who took Charice under his tutelage. Since then, she has performed with Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion and other international singers in concerts and sporting events with more than 50,000 people. The third time Charice made an appearance on Oprah she debuted her first internationally released single “Note to God” (click on video in image). It debuted no. 24 on Billboard.

For immigrants, they recognize and acknowledge young Filipino-American performers and showbiz personalities like Vanessa Hudgens of “High School Musical”. But when a fellow recent immigrant makes it big, that’s when Filipinos really pay close attention. Lea Salonga was the first Filipino immigrant who crossed the cultural divide as an award-winning Broadway singer and as Disney’s singing voice in several movies, including “Aladdin.” Now it looks like Charice is going to be the next big Filipino singer, if she stays relevant. But with Oprah as no. 1 patron, she may just become prime time.

While she has more videos on Youtube, the one embedded here is an Oprah exclusive.