Name: Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco, a.k.a. Charice.

Claim to fame: Like fellow singing sensation Justin Bieber, Charice rose to popularity through YouTube.

Born: San Pedro, Laguna, Philippines.

About: To support her family, Charice entered singing contests, a la Shania Twain. In 2005, she joined Little Big Star, a take on American Idol. She was eliminated after her first performance, but was brought back as a wildcard and made it to third place. In 2007, a fan posted a series of her performances on YouTube, garnering millions of hits.

Her success on Little Big Star earned Charice a spot performing on Star King, a talent show in South Korea. She performed on Star King on October 13, 2007, singing “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” and “A Whole New World.” Like her previous performances, this was put on YouTube, which garnered the attention of Ellen DeGeneres, who invited Charice to perform on her talk show.

Charice released her self-titled mini album in May 2008 and, by 2009, it reached platinum status. On May 12, Charice made another appearance on American television- this time on The Oprah Winfrey Show. And you know when Oprah’s on your side, good things happen. Due to Oprah’s recommendation, David Foster took Charice on in pursuit of international stardom and the rest, as they say, is history.

With three albums under her belt, this 18-year-old phenom is taking the world by storm. Charice has performed with such big-wigs as Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, and made numerous television appearances. Soon Charice will add a hit scripted TV show to her resume, as she is joining the cast of Glee. I look forward to seeing what’s in store for Charice, because I predict this star has a very bright future.

Are you a fan of Charice?