Young Filipino singer Charice Pempengco

Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco, now simply known as Charice, was born May 10, 1992 in San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines. Her father left them when she was 3 yrs old. Her mother struggled to raise her with her younger brother Carl.

To help her mother support the family, Charice began competing in amateur singing contest since she was seven: from town fiestas in Laguna to singing contest on tv. She is said to have joined 80 singing contests.

In 2005,Charice joined ABS- CBN Broadcasting Corporations little Big Star, Eliminated after her first performance, she was later called back as a wild card contender and eventually became a finalist. Although she was a consistent top scorer in the final rounds, she only finished in the third place via SMS voting.

In 2007, a fan, Dave Vuenas, started posting videos of Charice live performances onto YOU Tube. In June 2007, Charice was invited to do a demo-recording for Ten Songs/Productions, a music publishing in Stockholm, Sweden. She was invited to the talent show Star King where she vowed the audience with her singing.

After seeing her Star King performanced on you tube, Ellen De Generes extended an on air invitation for Charice to be a guest on her show. She flew to the United States for the first time and performed two songs on December 19,2007 episode of the show.She then guested at the April 8 episode of the Paul O' Grady Show in London, England. A few weeks later, she appeared on the May 12 adition of the Oprah Winfrey Show in an episode " world's Smartest Kids". Oprah was so impressed with Charice performance that she recommended the young singer to music producer David Foster who immediately took Charice under his wings.

Since then, Charice has been on stage with some of the world's best artists Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban.Charice was one of the headlining acts in the event of David Foaster and friends 10- City North american Tour.

In January 2009, she performed at two presidential pre-inaugural events in Washington DC.

 Her international debut album is December 23. She is also part of the soundtrack for the movie with her rendition of No One by Alicia Keys.