Charice Pempengco performance: singing wrote a note to God. BE SURE TO BUY Charice Pempengco NEW SINGLE "WROTE A NOTE TO GOD" ON ITUNES ! (Biography) Charice is the oldest of two children of Ricky and Racquel Pempengco. She has a younger brother named Carl. Her parents separated when she was only a toddler and she stayed with her mother since then. She started singing at age 4 with Racquel acting as her primary voice coach. At age 7, she started joining amateur singing contests mostly in town fiestas in their province of Laguna. She also had joined several competitions on TV thus making her a veteran in this field at a young age. She had joined over 80 contests in total. In 2005, she joined Little Big Star, a reality-talent show in the Philippines that is being hosted by the Asias Pop Princess Sarah Geronimo, loosely patterned from American Idol. She was eliminated right away after her very first performance. But she was later called back as a wildcard contender and eventually worked her way up until the finale show. She placed 2nd Runner Up with Sam Concepcion winning the grand prize. Charice was vocally trained by her mother and was said to have never received any formal training. The New York Post once called her a vocal prodigy for being able to sing big songs & even in her tender age. David Foster once mentioned in his interviews that Charice has the capability of mimicking others voices which he said, is a good characteristic of a better singer. Moreover, Josh Groban said that Charices voice is one of the most beautiful voices he has heard in a long time. Her voice is said to be in the mezzo-soprano vocal range, though her upper register can also be categorized as a dramatic soprano. Her vocal power and tone has always been compared to Whitney Houston, her vocal timbre and quality to Celine Dion, her R&B influence to Mariah Carey, and her belting style to Regine Velasquez. In many of her interviews, she has referred these divas to be her musical influences. To date, one of her highest belted note is a God in her live performance of One Moment In Time. Her favorite singers include Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Regine Velasquez. (2009)