Oprah agrees to manage Charice’s career in US - report

MANILA, Philippines - Oprah Winfrey has agreed to manage Filipino sensation Charice Pempengco’s singing career in the United States, her Philippine record label confirmed Tuesday.

A radio report quoted Nixon Sy, head of the Star Records, as also saying that the popular television host has also promised to devote an entire show for Charice to better acquaint American audiences to the YouTube star.

Sy however clarified that Winfrey would only manage Charice’s career in the US while she remains under the management of her local manager in the Philippines.

Last week, Winfrey invited Charice back to her show, allotting a good half of the show for her.

Aside from touring viewers to her hometown of San Pedro, Laguna, Charice also rendered a soaring rendition of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.”

Incidentally, Charice was treated with a surprise during the show when Winfrey introduced the young girl to Dion via video conference.

After seeing the 16-year-old Filipina sing and learning about her life story, the “My Heart Will Go On” singer then proposed if they could do a song number together.

Charice is scheduled to perform the duet with the Canadian superstar at the latter’s concert at the Madison Square Garden in New York this week.

Aside from Dion, big-time producer David Foster and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli had previously invited the young Filipina to belt out a tune in their respective concerts.

Charice, a product of a local singing competition on television, gained a worldwide audience when her performance videos were posted on the popular video-sharing website.

Not long after, her videos began racking up millions of hits and show organizers from Japan , South Korea and even in the United Kingdom started lining up one after the other to request her appearance in their shows.

Mark Merueñas
GMANews.TV