Filipino-born singer Charice Pempengco is an outright star on her own merits these days.
The 22-year-old from Cabuyao City, Philippines, is the first Asian solo singer to land a top-ten bestselling album on Billboard’s top 100 in recording history. However, six years ago, the young teenager was an up and coming star who had caught notice of Celine Dion. The legendary singer was flattered by an impressive cover version she had done of her signature song “My Heart Will Go On” from the film “Titanic”.
She invited the young girl onstage during a concert at Madison Square Garden on September 15, 2008. Standing before a crowd of 18,000, young Charice was visibly nervous. Dion asked her a series of questions and held a mock interview with her prior to singing a duet. Any vestige of stage fright ended when the two commenced singing the song “Because You Loved Me”. Needless to say, Charice’s mother, who was witnessing the event, cried from joy.
The words of the song are tender enough, but what was amazing is the mature sounding voice of a young girl. Based on the sound recording along, it is virtually impossible to determine that Dion is even singing a duet. It sounds like Celine Dion sang the entire song.
In fact, the 4’9″ tiny singer commanded such a performance on stage as to almost overshadow the 40-year-old 5’7″ Dion. At the end of the performance, Pempengco drew a standing ovation from the crowd and the professional respect of her favorite singer.