Charice knows she can sing big and so does Oprah Winfrey.

The divine O has had the petite teen from the Philippines on her program four times to belt out ballads ranging from Whitney Houston’s showstopper I Have Nothing to Charice’s own Note to God — performances that led to Oprah dubbing her “the most talented girl in the world” and “a force to be reckoned with,” which is about as close to living canonization as it gets.

Solid ballad schmaltz has won Charice an Oprah-sized audience. The 18-year-old singer — born Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco — reportedly started competing in talent shows in the Philippines at seven and her musical ambitions progressed to a stint on Philippines Idol-style show, Little Big Star, in 2007 and then another reality program, South Korea’s Star King, after her former TV appearances were discovered via YouTube.

[ Full story on vancouversun.com ]

As an 18-year-old, that’s my dream — to sing pop and R&B. When I was a little kid, I had to sing big ballad songs because I joined a lot of singing contests, and you know, in the Philippines, they’re all great singers. So I had to sing big songs, just to show them that you can sing a really big song, too. But my dream is to sing pop songs and R&B music.

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