Charice on NBC’s X’mas special in New York

Filipina singer Charice Pempengco has been chosen to join a superstar lineup performing in NBC’s 13th “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” special.

The annual tree-lighting extravaganza has become one of New York City’s most celebrated events for the past 76 years.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is 74 feet high, 40 feet in diameter, and weighs a whopping 12 tons.
Made out of Norwegian spruce wood, it will be lighted by 30,000 “environ-friendly LED lights,” according to the Rockefeller website, which are strung on no less than five miles of wire.

At its crown, the Christmas tree will have a star made out of Swarovski crystal.

Considered a must-see attraction in New York City, the tree will be lighted on November 30, in a grand ceremony from 7p.m. to 9p.m., and will stay illuminated until January 2, 2011.

Charice, all of 18 years old, will be part of that ceremony. This makes the diminutive girl the first Filipino artist invited to perform at the annual New York City event.

Josh Groban, Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue, Jessica Simpson, and Sheryl Crow are among those expected to take part in the musical spectacle.

Other artists invited to the event are Welsh classical singer Katherine Jenkins, Scottish pop singer Annie Lennox, Britain’s Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle, and 10-year-old opera singer Jackie Evancho of America’s Got Talent fame.

The dance group, Radio City Rockettes, is expected to kick off the holiday special that will feature a mix of current hits and holiday classics.

Pinoy kid is Holland’s rising singing star

Kim Regasa [ABS-CBN]

Even if he failed to win in Holland’s Got Talent, a Dutch-Pinoy is the new rising star in Holland.
Kim Regasa has been dubbed by the media as the “mini Michael Jackson” of Holland.

Making it among the 9 finalists from the 4,000 who auditioned in the British reality talent-search franchise owned by Simon Cowell, Regasa easily became a crowd favorite.

At the audition, the very popular Dutch judge named Gordon praised Regasa and suggested he sounded like the young Michael Jackson.

So, Regasa’s mother immediately changed his repertoire and searched for Jackson Five songs.

Come semi-finals, when he sang “Who’s Loving You” by the Jackson Five, the crowd and the 3 judges stood up and gave Regasa the longest standing ovation on the show.

The following day, Regasa was all over the news, and the media aptly dubbed him as the “mini Michael Jackson” of Holland.

But Regasa did not bag the title in the finals as tenor Martin Hurkens received the most text votes, winning the top prize in Holland’s Got Talent 2010.

Because he’s still very young, failure did not wreck Regasa’s night and the days ahead.

Pinoy singer conquers America's Got Talent stage

MANILA, Philippines -A part-time Filipino student and shipping worker from Mandaue City is quietly making a name for himself after wowing judges of the hit American reality search America's Got Talent.

Luigi Seno, 20, played guitar and sang a bluesy version of Maroon 5's "Sunday Morning", winning praise from the AGT judges and loud applause from the audience. 

Luigi Seno

"Luigi, you have a really cool, relaxed style. Fantastic," said judge Sharon Osbourne.
Judge Howie Mandel said Seno looked shy, "like a young kid", when he walked out on the AGT stage with his guitar.

"As soon as you started strumming on that guitar, you, like, opened up. You are truly a great entertainer. If you had an album right now, I'd be listening to you in my car. I would be," he said.

Third judge Piers Morgan, on the other hand, said it was not just Seno's talent that got his attention but his undeniable charm.

"I'll tell you what it is. It's not just that you're a good guitar player, or that you're a very comfortable singer and a good singer, it's the fact that you've got this charm about you, which I think is going to go a long way," he said.

All three judges voted Seno into the next round, with the chance to win the US$1 million grand prize.
In an interview before his performance, Seno said he was born and raised in the Philippines before his family moved to California 8 years ago.