Last two weeks ago i have been hooked in YouTube and browsed many times some good music videos about two Filipinos. You probably gonna be asking who. There are a lot of awesome singers in our country and presently we have a few lately who are in demand by media.

Lets take note our very own Charice Pempengco, 15 years old, who won third place in Little Big Star, a singing contest in ABS-CBN way back 2005. She became a fan of FalseVoice who posted her videos singing "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston and "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" a soundtrack from Dreamsgirls movie. This gave a big jump to her career and international exposures where she was first invited to show her talent in South Korea on October 13 2007. She also sang "A Whole New World" with Kyu Hyun, a popular boy band in the said country in Star King Show. She already made two guesting in the same Korean popular show. Thousands of viewers were stunned by her performance on YouTube and this gave her again a ticket to American Television. "A Star is Born" was entitled to her by a TV network E! Ellen phoned this young diva to guest in her show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. On December 19, 2007 she earned standing ovation from the audience. She also met David Foster and watched the concert of Celine Dion which one of her songs Charice had sang when she was still in LBS. Last April 8, 2008 she showcased her talent on Paul O'Grady Show in London. She again sang "And I am telling you I'm not going" and "I will always love you". She received standing ovation from the audience who were amazed by the young girl who has an unbelievable voice. This coming May the child prodigy will be shown in a talkshow, Oprah.

Another Filipino has proven we've got the talent. Are you familiar with the song "Don't Stop Believin" by the Journey? Have you heard Steve Perry who popularized the song "Open Arms", who was the former singer of this band? Well, Arnel Pineda is the new front man of the American rock band Journey. Like Charice the young diva, he also started his singing career in early stage. He had changed several times his band during 1980's - 2005. In 2006 he finally formed a band Zoo with songs of Aerosmith, Air Supply, Journey and other popular songs from 70's - 90's. A big thanks to the technology and Pineda began appearing on YouTube. Noel Gomez, a longtime friend and fan of Arnel uploaded these videos. Neal Schon who was getting frustrated looking for a vocalist for their band Journey. Before we knew it, Arnel was on his way to the U.S. for audition. He had two auditions until he got in. On December 2007, he was announced as the new man of the Journey. He had made a succesful concert in Chile on February 21, 2008. Consecutively he had a concert on March 8, 2008 in Las Vegas Planet Hollywood where almost of his audience enjoyed his sensational performance. Now Arnel and his band member shines their new album Revelation. They will be guesting in Ellen DeGeneres due to public demand. Yet again another Filipino has raised the flag of the Philippines. We have a lot of reasons to be proud of our country. Thanks to YouTube it makes star discovery faster. The future looks brighter once again.

written by Frances Therese Alorro