They say that the best things come in small packages, and that's certainly true about Charice.
Charice, a prodigious 18−year−old singer from the Philippines, has one of the biggest and most surprising voices of our time. While appearing on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2007, this 4−foot−11 powerhouse blew America away with her voice, belting two iconic hits, "I Will Always Love You" and "And I Am Telling You," and she certainly hasn't faded away since.
This past fall, Charice appeared in the second season premiere of Fox's "Glee," playing Sunshine Corazon, a Filipino foreign exchange student.
In that episode, Sunshine confronts Rachel Berry (Lea Michele), the contentious prima donna of the glee club, New Directions, and a diva−off ensues. Sunshine's voice carries her character and leads the New Directions' members to invite her to join the group. Sunshine, however, feels uncomfortable staying in the school after an unfortunate "miscommunication," where Rachel sends Sunshine to a crack house. Sunshine transferred to a different school where she felt she would be appreciated, leaving the show until now.
Sunshine, and Charice, are back on "Glee" for what seems to be the rest of the season.
"I don't know how many more episodes, but I'm really excited to do more," she said in a recent conference call with reporters.
"It feels great [to be back on "Glee"]. I feel really blessed to be a part of this show. When they gave me the song ‘All By Myself' I was really happy, because I've been singing that song forever, and I love Celine Dion," she said.
Charice's taste for singing began at a young age thanks to her mother's urging, she said during the conference call.
"My mom discovered me because I was really shy to sing," she said. "My mom used to be a vocalist in a band, and when she got back home from work, she saw me singing on top of the table. I was four years old, and I was singing a Celine Dion song, ‘My Heart Will Go On.' So she trained me."
This explains her affinity for performing Celine Dion and the ease with which she executes "All By Myself" in "Night of Neglect," the "Glee" episode that aired last week and featured Charice's return.
"Night of Neglect" was also a showcase for Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) in all her glory, as she reunited old nemeses of the glee club — Sandy Ryerson (Stephen Tobolowsky), the former arts teacher at William McKinley; Dustin Goolsby (Cheyenne Jackson), the coach of rival club Vocal Adrenaline; and Terri Schuester (Jessalyn Gilsig), coach Will Schuester's (Matthew Morrison) ex−wife.
While the drama of "Glee" has yet to fully unravel, Charice experienced some of her own drama leading up to her appearance on the show. She is a self−acclaimed "Gleek" — a huge fan of the show — and the idea of performing in the series was thrilling, she said.
"When I found out that I was going to be part of it, I got really excited," she said.
That excitement quickly turned into anxiety, though.
"I was very nervous. Especially when I was on the set for the first time," she recalled.
Any fears were quickly dissipated once she got to know the other actors. In fact, what she has enjoyed most about working on the hit series is getting to know the easy−going cast.
"I was shaking. It was nerve−racking because I was just like, ‘Oh my God, are they going to like me or whatever,' but when I was on the set, they were all sweet … and when I met them, they made me feel really comfortable," she said.
Beyond "Glee," Charice expressed excitement about an upcoming film, "Here Comes the Boom," in which she has landed a lead role playing Malia, alongside Salma Hayek, Kevin James and Henry Winkler. Malia, she said, relates well to Sunshine — they're both high school students, brainiacs and prodigious singers.
Charice seems to have a bright, sunshine−y future ahead of her. She's already appeared on one of TV's biggest hits, is starring in an upcoming film featuring some of Hollywood's biggest names and has released one of the biggest albums of 2010 with her self−titled "Charice." Despite her physical size, there's nothing small about her.
