God Bless You, Charice!

Dear Charice, wherever you may be, whatever you may be doing, whatever your plans may be, know that there are people who truly care for you. God bless you!

Photo shared by Charice's Mommy Raquel on Facebook

Charice now is the same Charice we fell in love with

People change, looks change. But fortunately, Charice now is still the same Charice we fell in love with.

okay to the @officialcharice fans here is her shot for u! @TheXFactorPhils @xfactorabscbn @manila_genesis @durtyfeet twitter.com/AngeliPV/statu…
— Angeli Pangilinan V (@AngeliPV) May 23, 2012

Here's an excerpt of a 2009 article on Charice (emphasis mine):

Charice Pempengco is PHILNEWS.COM Person of the Year for 2009

...Of our seven finalists Charice seems to have truly captured the hearts of the Filipino people. And why not, listening to this young charming seventeen-year-old, one cannot help but be taken in by her charm, and her talent.

One of the first things people notice about Charice is that she is unpretentious. She has no problem letting the world know about her humble beginnings and her struggles growing up in a single-parent household. Unlike local entertainers who immediately put on a façade of sophistication or wealth, this young Filipina with a golden voice has a strong sense of who she is and what she can achieve thus making it unnecessary for her to go out of her way to impress anyone.

Charice is a breath of fresh air for the Philippine entertainment industry. An industry which had initially given her short shrift for looking too "Pinay." It took adoring fans from distant shores to jolt locals into the realization that there was real talent here which they should not ignore.

And yes, we realize that Charice may change, fame and fortune has a way of reshaping even the purest of spirits. But for now, we rejoice in the Charice we have—may she always retain that honesty, that sincerity, that love for her craft, and that truly great singing voice that has made her the overwhelming choice for our Person of the Year.

Source: http://www.philnews.com/2009/32a.htm

As a Chaster, a Filipino, a person, I am happy to see that despite the success and fame that Charice has achieved so far, she has indeed retained the beautiful qualities that made us love her when we first "discovered" her: unpretentious, with a strong sense of who she is and what she can achieve, honest, sincere, love for her craft, and a truly great singing voice.

Charice's New Look and Her Fans / Fingerprint

Updated on 9 April 2012

Taken in April 2012 at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2012
(that was after her March 2012 taping in the the Korean show Star King)

Frankly, I'm happy that as Charice continues on her way to the top, she's doing it by working hard and seems to know better how to preserve her voice while at the same time singing on a higher level with amazing contrasts - when she wants to she can make her voice so much fuller or lighter, edgy or melodious, powerful or soft. Her Infinity Tour showed her greatness as a singer - and she's still only 19.

With regard to her new look, I'm learning to like the new hair but not as much as her long black hair. I think she looks so beautiful in the photo above while I'm not so sold on some of the boyish outfits like what she wore in Star King; though if you talk of extremes I'd rather those than see her baring flesh and/or performing in glorified underwear as is getting common now.

And the tattoo? Well, I won't encourage my students to have one but Charice wears hers simply - and amazingly for me, she still looks clean and wholesome.

So I'm not completely taken by her new look (and I neither liked her singing "Take You Down" and dancing to it in her tour). But what matters more is that Charice is still Charice - her attitude, her talk, her love for her family and fans. Besides, in her Infinity Tour, she showed her flexibility in style - with rugged attire in some parts while sleek and feminine (with killer heels) when she sang the ballads.

I think all these "fans" getting turned off and angrily airing all their "concerns" can only find reasonable ground for doing so if Charice were to turn indecent and vulgar and/or get hooked on vices. Because then she'd really be destroying herself and negatively influencing many of her followers.

Charice is growing up and just like any person who's searching and establishing her own identity, she can make some mistakes here and there. Give her space! After all, Charice continues to show herself a sensible girl.

In her Infinity Tour press conference in the Philippines, she said that when she does something, she always has reasons, and does not do something simply because she wants to. The girl thinks and her thinking - together with her humble, loving heart - has brought her to a good high road so far.

So if mere looks or style is such an overwhelmingly major concern for some people, then they should look for a more superficial star to follow.

Adding below the lyrics and video of Fingerprint, an original by Charice:
Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/c/charice/fingerprint.html

How can I be sure
When everything is so confusing
I'm old enough to learn
That I'm too young to know what I'm doing
Gotta break free
From what used to be
It no longer makes sense for me

How do I stand out
In a world that's all about fitting in
I'm certain of my doubts
But I wouldn't be me for no reason
My identity
Right in front of me
There's nobody else I wanna be like

I'm JUST TRYING TO FIND, FIND MY FINGERPRINT
REDEFINE, WHO AM I, WHERE DO I BEGIN
ALL I KNOW IS WHAT I'VE BEEN TOLD
BUT THE ONE I SEE IN THE MIRROR IS SO DIFFERENT
UNIQUE AS MY FINGERPRINT

I'm positive
That I don't know where I'm going
How do I make sense
Of all these crazy emotions
I'm up and down
Get turned around
But I'm still clear on my intentions

I'm JUST TRYING TO FIND, FIND MY FINGERPRINT
REDEFINE, WHO AM I, WHERE DO I BEGIN
ALL I KNOW IS WHAT I'VE BEEN TOLD
BUT THE ONE I SEE IN THE MIRROR IS SO DIFFERENT
UNIQUE AS MY FINGERPRINT

Do they see me like I see me?
Not even close
Do they know me like I know me?
Well I don't know
I'm still undecided but I realize that it's ok
Good things are worth the wait