David Foster in Manila? Charice's sweet secret agenda

MANILA - David Foster is in Manila! That´s a dream come true for Charice. In the first place, Charice has been egging him to visit the land of her birth, the home of her people - she loves them despite everything. And that should give you an idea that she has a sweet secret agenda as to why David Foster and Friends are here, aside of course from to perform this Saturday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

David´s friends include, aside from the Philippine's very own rising Asian superstar Charice, 9-time Grammy Award-winner Natalie Cole, Billboard hot singer-songwriter Peter Cetera, "American Idol" Season 2 winner Ruben Studdard, and the classical-pop "Canadian Tenors" quartet of Victor Micallef, Clifton Murray, Remigio Pereira, and Fraser Walters. They´re all welcome here. The Araneta concert is one of the stopovers of "Hitman: David Foster and Friends," a long-running tour that actually began at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas in May 2008.

Charice wants to show David her family´s little abode in Cabuyao, Laguna where she was born 10 May 1992. She grew up in Gulod, to where they moved when she was 7. "I learned to dream in that place, inside our little apartment," Charice says (Bum A Tenorio, 30 September 2010, philstar.com). And David is as meek as a little lamb. "I´m all hers," David says (Ricky Lo, 22 October 2010, philstar.com). "Wherever she takes me, that´s where I´m going." And of course she´s going to show him the big abode her family has in Tagaytay City, which she bought for her Mommy Raquel for a song (if you don´t believe me, see my "100 Charice. Mod parables of the talents of Ming," 04 February 2010, Pinoy Cinderella.)

But no, those cozy house visits are not Charice sweet secret agenda, I tell you. It has something to do with David Foster of course, and it is this: To discover another singing sensation, or two, among the Filipinos. Charice is not selfish; for good works, she wants to share her good luck - your good work is up to you. And David knows exactly what he has to do; he´s super smart. He says (Ricky Lo as cited), "I told the press upon arrival at the airport, that why don´t you ask your singers to go to our (Araneta) show and sing. You have 30 seconds to impress me. And I will do that. If there´s a singer out there on Saturday night, I´ll find him." Or her.

If Charice can make David Foster do that, she´s has come a long way, baby!

Now, now, don´t get carried away, like Pocholo Concepcion who describes "18-year old Charice (as) the Philippines' most celebrated performer since Nora Aunor in the early 1970s" (22 October 2010, inquirer.net). Well, he forgets the fantastic Miss Lea Salonga, whom David Foster himself describes as "incredible" (John D Lazatin, TFC, chuvachienes.com), she who won more UK and US star awards than you can count on your fingers, for her role as Kim in the musical "Miss Saigon" (Wikipedia).

Charice, she will be the most celebrated, I´m sure, but not just yet. You know why? If you haven´t done so, go visit YouTube, play "Charice - Pyramid [featuring Iyaz] (Viral Video)" and don´t forget to look down at the viewers´ comments - what negative Filipinos are saying about her can make you cry. I did. I stopped reading those comments many months ago; I don´t want to cry anymore. I doubt that a million Filipinos are celebrating the success of Charice; notwithstanding, that doesn´t stop me from having a good feeling about this Filipino international singing sensation - and yes, I´m finishing a book about her - she who has risen from poverty and near-tragedy, from depression and oppression, to musical heights that a Filipino performer of her origins had never gone before. She has done that, yes, Charice - from the Philippines! She makes me proud to be a Filipino.

The friends of Charice, whom she calls Chasters, David Foster can easily identify from the crowd. If she comes up to him and says, "Thank you for Charice," she must be a Chaster. David is surprised that "Every single day of my life in the last two years in Los Angeles, every day, somebody, Filipino, comes up to me and says, ´Thank you for Charice´" (Concepcion as cited). "Every day. The people are so warm." David, I can assure you the Chasters are so warm.

And the fiends of Charice, whom I call Crabsters? I can assure you they´re not only so warm - they´re so hot they´re boiling mad at her success.

Deprived of the love of a father, Charice looks up to David as her father. The feeling is mutual; "she´s like one of my children," David says (Neil Ramos, 22 October 2010, mb.com.ph). Charice reminds David of the time some people asked him about her and he had said, "She´s like my sixth daughter." To that she says, "For me, that was the most special moment."

So, how is Charice as a singer now? "The voice gets better every day," David says. "She was great when I met her at age 14, so you can imagine how I feel about her voice now. I call her a laser beam."

So, how is Charice as a performer now? "She has always been confident of her singing," David says, "but now her personality is getting confident."

"She truly was a child when I (first) met her," David says (Jocelyn Dimaculangan, 22 October 2010, gmanews.tv). "And she walked in the other day, and she strutted onstage like Whitney Houston." The father is proud of the daughter. David must be referring to the Japanese part of the David Foster and Friends concert tour.

"What it is about Charice, it would be what I would say about everyone in this (group). I´m attracted to great singers," David says. "I only know how to work with great singers," he jokes. "That´s what I love to do. They find me. And Charice is in that category."

Meanwhile, Charice must take care of her voice. "I don´t know how to take care of her voice," David says, "but Natalie does." Natalie Cole has been giving Charice some great advice. Natalie is one of David´s protégés; when they did her album "Unforgettable," it became her best-selling album, sold 7 million copies, and won for Natalie several Grammys, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance (Concepcion as cited).

So, what´s David´s plan for Charice now? He is building up this little girl to be the biggest star from Asia in the entertainment universe; he wants her to be "the first true Asian world superstar."

To which Charice says, "I´m speechless. Thank you, David. I´m not gonna get tired of saying thank you. I just hope that you and Oprah are not gonna get tired of helping me make my dreams come true. I hope my fans will also keep on standing beside me just like a pyramid - strong!"

So, what does David think of Charice now that she´s part of the popular Fox TV show "Glee," with a recurring role? "I believe every great singer can act," David says. "I would have been surprised again if she couldn´t act. True enough, she´s a great actress."

"The Filipino people (are) so grateful to me," David says (Jocelyn as cited). "They´re just so happy that Charice´s music is making a mark on the world." And David, you know, you´re making a mark on our hearts.