Thia Megia comes out of her she

By JECELYN V. MACAHINDOG

March 25, 2011, 10:18am

MANILA, Philippines -- Fil-Am Top 10 finalist Thia Megia proves herself as not just a ballad singer by fighting back and redeeming the judges’ nod during “American Idol’s” Motown performance night, March 24 (Manila time).

Thia performed Martha and the Vandellas’ “Heatwave,” an upbeat song far different from the ballads “Out Here On My Own” and “Colors Of The Wind” that she had sung in the previous weeks.

“Okay! Now I feel like we’re scratching the surface a little bit with you right there. It was great to see you let loose like that. Wow! Who knew? I didn’t and I wasn’t sure but now that we’re going there. I need you to dig even deeper each week. You know you’re 16 years old and I don’t expect you to have the live experience in the world to bring what you need to bring to the lyrics but part of performing is acting and you have to bring that every time, so always make sure you connect with the lyrics so you can bring even more because I just see, now I know, you got it in you,” an ecstatic Jennifer Lopez exclaimed.

Randy Jackson agreed with J.Lo but urged Thia to be more adventurous when it comes to making choices.

“The reason you’re here, cause we knew you had it in you right? And the public is definitely resounding with that because you’ve been here every week. This new thing is a good thing because I know this has been tough for you the last couple of weeks. But I got to say it’s about taking chances. You took a chance tonight and you didn’t sing a really safe ballad although I still feel you can dig deeper and you can do more with it. Take more vocal chances. You can really sing and I want you to believe and I’m happy to see you move up a notch tonight with something different, congrats on that. Take some chances, continue! Push!” he said.

Maintaining a brief stance, Steven Tyler quipped: “You’ve taken a step out, I love it. Just great! I’m good. I’m good with it.”

As competition heats up in the 10th season “Idol,” Thia has been a fan favorite and has produced a strong following. The youngest contender ever at 16 years old, Thia is following on the footsteps of Jasmine Trias and Camille Velasco (Season 3, 2004), and Ramiele Malubay (Season 7, 2008).

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Charice, other young Pinoys still reaping acclaim abroad

By JULIEN MERCED C. MATABUENA

February 25, 2011, 3:33pm

Charice won the Best New Artist Award at the J-Wave Tokio Hot 100 Awards held last Feb. 24. (Photo courtesy of barks.jp)

MANILA, Philippines - International recognition continues for Pinoys, with Charice Pempengco once again leading the pack.

The now-internationally acclaimed singer adds another feather to her cap, winning the Best New Artist nod at the J-Wave Tokio Hot 100 Awards on Feb. 24. Charice, who personally received the award, bested Justin Bieber, Ke$ha, Bruno Mars and Orianthi for the plum.

The news broke out on Twitter last night courtesy of user Harry Clark (@twistinharry), who identifies himself as a “songwriter, producer, project consultant.”

Clark posted, “FLASH : #Charice IS the winner for J-Wave Tokio Hot 100 Award 2011 in best new artist ;-) Congratulations Cha!! Good work Chasters! ;-)”

According to the Tokyo-based Clark, the young diva also performed “Pyramid” during the ceremony.

In a separate blog post on his website, also on Thursday, Clark gave a detailed report on the announcement of Charice’s win.

“There were snippets from each promo clips by each nominees playin[g] on a huge wide screen on stage, while Chris Peppler, host of the ceremony & Tokio Hot 100, reading a list of the name of nominated artists in best new artist..and then, the clips were cutt [sic] off, light off to black, and here came the total & absolute silence all over the hall...until Chris gently goes ‘And the winner is’.

“And total silence again...like forever....silence...in a darkness...... and.....Chris suddenly and wildly opened his mouth and went with its first letters ‘..Cha---‘! Then lights all up, Cha[r]ice's face is now on the huge wide screen.”

Charice's self-titled album had reached Platinum status in Japan after it was launched there in July last year.

According to her Twitter account, Charice was also in Nagoya for a concert last Monday.

J-Wave Tokio Hot 100 Awards, said to be one of the biggest award-giving bodies for music in Japan, is an annual event by Tokyo FM radio station J-Wave 81.3. “Tokio Hot 100” is J-Wave’s airplay chart.

In other news, it turns out that Thia Megia is not the only Fil-Am that wowed the judges of “American Idol” (AI) Season 10. Following the tough Hollywood week, Clint Jun Gamboa makes it to the competition’s Top 24; Megia likewise followed him into the magic 24 shortly on Friday morning, Manila time.

Gamboa hails from Long Beach, California and works as a music host in a karaoke bar. He auditioned in the San Francisco leg of “AI” and sang Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire.” For the competition’s “Hollywood Week,” he sang a rendition of Ray Charles’ “Georgia on My Mind.”

Meanwhile, Fil-Canadian Youtube hit Maria Aragon appeared on US show “Good Morning America” (GMA) on Feb. 24, Thursday (New York time). This came just days after her stints on The Ellen Degeneres Show and on Winnipeg radio station Hot 103.

On a Feb. 24 report by CBC News Canada, Aragon’s performance of “Born This Way” on the show was broadcast simultaneously on NY Times Square.

“GMA” host George Stephanopoulos can’t help but express his admiration for the young performer.

“I have to tell you, they were playing that out over Times Square. And while you were playing I think the traffic stopped all over Times Square this morning. That was so fantastic,” he was quoted. The show likewise gave Aragon a gift certificate for six months of piano lessons. According to the young musical stalwart, she hadn't had any formal music lessons before.

Aragon shot to stardom when her cover of Lady Gaga’s latest single “Born This Way” caught the attention of the award-winning performer herself. On Feb. 17, Lady Gaga tweeted Aragon’s video to her 8,412,153 followers, tagging Maria, “the future.”

Aragon is also slated to sing at Lady Gaga’s Toronto concert on Mar. 3, with the latter personally inviting her to a duet when they got the chance to talk over the phone at a radio guesting.

“I really can't believe what's happening this past few days, my goodness! I'm really overwhelmed!,” the 10-year old tweeted last Wednesday.

Source: Manila Bulletin