Charice: Let's find him, Chasters

(Note: All dates and time references are Philippine based.)

I really get amazed at the kind of relationship Charice and Chasters have. Chasters are more than just fans of Charice…and if you’re a Chaster, you must be nodding now.

Charice was in the Philippines from December 2-10 this year to fulfill some commitments and to be with her family for an early Christmas celebration. She graced the three biggest TV stations and popular radio stations during her week-long stay in the country.

Before heading to the airport on the 10^th, she visited four radio stations for interviews and to promote her sophomore album Infinity. The DJ’s had fun with her as she was her casual self answering questions and injecting humor every now and then.

Charice can count on Chasters

It was during the Monster Radio RX93.1 interview that Charice was asked whom she usually ran to when some critics said some stuff about her. Charice answered, “Family. Friends. Sometimes my fans actually…like when I don’t feel good…Twitter, you know… Sila lang yung…sa kanila ka lang makakakuha ng advice din.” [You could also get advice from them.]

Charice knows she can always run to her Chasters. And that’s 24/7! They are always there for her. They are also finding ways to promote and help her reach the top. She doesn’t even need to ask that of them because promoting her is an inborn role that Chasters play.  

But what happens when Charice does ask for help from Chasters? It would be interesting to see the resulting situation from an aerial point of view—Chasters dropping whatever they’re doing to give Charice the best kind of assistance. Online regulars will be turned into pageboys and trumpeters spreading their Princess’ request like a wildfire. Lurkers will appear online and have their fingertips tinker on the keys of whatever electronic gadgets they may have. And boom! Fedex and UPS will be put to shame…at the fastest speed possible, delivery is at Charice’s doorstep together with an invisible note: “Labyo!”

For example

Last June, there was a poll for the new flavor of Life Savers Gummies pack. Charice supported the Orange flavor. It was the underdog and was way behind Blue Raspberry and Lemonade flavors. Who she gonna call? Poll Chasters! Yes, Charice called on her Chasters to vote for her favorite flavor. Her call-to-vote tweets, like the one below, easily gained 100+ retweets. In no time, Orange took the lead.

Chasters did not only make sure of Orange’s comfortable lead but they also aimed for a million votes before the start of the Life Savers Gummies Party as a gift for Charice who hosted the event. The target number of votes was achieved 11 hours before the deadline. Cool, right?

Another example

Chasters are not just for clicking the “vote” buttons.

Last December 2^nd, Charice fulfilled not only her commitment to do a Christmas concert but also to do a duet with Arjohn Gilbert, an Aeta boy selling bamboo flutes in the province of Pampanga in the Philippines. How did the duet come about?

Let’s back track a little. It was after lunch on the 6^th of August when I logged in to Twitter and like any other time, I checked on Charice’s tweets. She was online and her first tweet went:

I clicked on the link and I was led to a YouTube video of a boy named Arjohn Gilbert singing popular songs including Baby by Justin Bieber. I had multiple tabs open, as usual, so I could go back and forth to Twitter and other sites. After less than five minutes, Charice tweeted again saying:

“That was fast!” was my reaction to the immediate invitation of Charice for Arjohn to perform with her. Charice was in the US at that time and Arjohn was in the Philippines. She needed to ask for help in finding him. She responded to a tweet of Yohan17:

Some Chasters talked among themselves trying to figure out which “own show in the Philippines” Charice was referring to. It could not be the David Foster and Friends Manila leg in October because that was not her own show, they argued. iChasterJenn tweeted Charice asking for the date of the show and Charice promptly replied with a hint of a show aside from the DFF concert:

                      [Translation: @OfficialCharice When is your solo concert, Cha? :)

                      @iChasterJenn Definitely this year. Before the year ends. That’s 

                      why I hope he’ll know that he’s going to be part (of the show).]

That reply intensified the need for the Chasters to find Arjohn Gilbert. Add to this, entertainment sites were able to pick up this juicy news based on the exchange of tweets between Charice and Chasters. Soon the video of Arjohn and the tweets of Charice topped the entertainment news. Chasters tweeted links to the online news scoops. I also came across some tweets of Chasters planning to go to Pampanga to find Arjohn.

Positive results delivered pronto!

About ten hours after Charice’s first tweet, Yohan17 tweeted her to check DM to which she replied:

There were other tweets giving links to Arjohn’s Facebook account, his old videos and articles written about him two or three years ago.

After a few minutes, Charice tweeted again:

On the 7^th of August, yohan17 uploaded a video of Arjohn Gilbert on Youtube. Arjohn thanked Charice for inviting him to perform with her in a show, which, as it turned out, was the “Christmas With Charice” concert held on the 2^nd of December.

                                             Video by yohan17

Sense of priority

Some hours after the tweet exchanges on the 6^th of August, I checked on the video of Arjohn by the original uploader, ryaneski. Its view count had ballooned to more than 700,000 which was much more than the number of views of One Day Music Video that Chasters were promoting. It was ironic, I would say. But that attested to how Charice tweets, like those above, had become big news which led people, not only her fans, to check out Arjohn. That also showed that Chasters could put aside other things, including viewing Charice videos, to respond to something more urgent, especially if it was a request from her.

Charice can definitely run to her Chasters…and that’s to their delight because they love doing things for her…because they love Charice, the artist…because they love Charice, the person.

You Are So Beautiful

(Video by ice3353)

                                    

If you are a Chaster, most probably you have already watched the video above. It’s Charice’s rendition of “You Are So Beautiful” which she dedicated to her late father, Mr. Ricky Pempengco. Charice couldn’t have chosen a better song. As David Foster said, “I think it is very, very fitting; a great tribute to your father.”

The word “beautiful” is a very beautiful word. Yes, right…it’s redundant. Please let that redundancy stay. And I’ll say it again. The word BEAUTIFUL is a very beautiful word!

Being a common word to describe a person, a thing, a place, an experience, a feeling and anything under the sun, and the moon if you wish, “beautiful” seems to be so overused that sometimes its meaning is taken for granted. In the video above, however, the meaning of “beautiful” cannot be that—taken for granted.

If you are a Chaster, most probably you cried while watching the video. I did…and not just once. Every tear that touched my cheek was beautiful. Yes, there’s beauty in crying because it reflects the human in us and our capacity to empathize with someone. Even if we have no way of knowing or feeling the exactness of Charice’s emotion, we cried because of the bond we have with her. Her triumph is our triumph, her happiness is our happiness, her sadness is our sadness.

David Foster is a beautiful person. He gave Charice time to compose herself after her voice cracked when she said, “…I lost my Dad…” His moving closer towards Charice when she started to utter her request showed his sensitivity to what was about to happen. And when he finally heard that she wanted to sing a song for her father (the song was unrehearsed), he politely talked to the audience to excuse the two of them while he had his arm around Charice (maybe it was his way of letting her know that he was supportive of her).  He granted the request which, to me, demonstrated not only his belief in the ability of Charice as a performer but also his willingness to give her the opportunity to pay tribute to her father by way of a beautiful song.

     David Foster and Charice

in a beautiful and heart-warming embrace

after the performace.

(Photo by Tome Donoghue, www.lasvegasweekly.com)

The musicians and the audience are beautiful people. They were one with Charice in her request. Their applause with standing ovation after the performance was, to me, an appreciation of the scenario of a beautiful person giving tribute to a loved one through something that she does best. This whole thing is destined to happen not in any other show but in this one—her comeback performance in a David Foster and Friends Concert in Mandalay Bay where she and David first showed their beautiful tandem to the concert-goers more than three years ago.

To Mr. Ricky Pempengco, I’d like to say that the entire video above is so beautiful and so touching because to your daughter, You Are So Beautiful.

Discovering Charice

It was in the second half of 2010 when someone suggested that I check out Charice on YouTube. He was full of excitement when he recommended that I watch her performances,  especially on Oprah.  I’ve heard Charice’s name before but I did not have the chance to see her on TV nor had I thought of watching her videos on the Net. I didn’t even know she had numerous videos uploaded on YouTube. My work schedule then was so crazy that whenever I reached home, I would think of something to relax me and listening to music was not in my list.

Aside from Oprah, I heard she also appeared on Ellen and there were talks of her being on Glee. In as much as I was intrigued by her guesting on global TV programs, I went on my usual routine, which I never suspected would have a big change soon.


Note To God

One night in August (I think that was the month) last year, I turned on my computer, not to search for Charice, but to watch the much talked about acrobatic group in Britain’s Got Talent. I also searched for other episodes of the show including other countries’ like Ukraine’s Got Talent. After watching a number of fantastic episodes from different countries, I remembered about the suggestion—check out Charice. So, I did.

I can’t recall now which Charice video I watched first but I do remember clicking on the featured video of her performance of “Note to God” on Oprah. Everything about it—her voice, her hand gestures, her facial expressions, her movements from one side of the stage to the other, the accompaniment, the back-up choir, the playful lyrics on widescreen behind her, and the fog effect on the floor—was so perfect that I was one with the studio audience in awe and admiration for what I witnessed. I watched it many times that night and I was so drawn to it that I didn’t notice the change of the calendar date. Yes, it was already past midnight and Charice’s voice reverberated in my head until I finally succumbed to the comfort of my pillows to sleep.


I Will Survive

Within the same week, I searched for other videos of Charice on YouTube. In between videos, I googled for information about her. Little by little, I realized that I missed so many happenings in her growing career and popularity. I asked myself why I did not know about her earlier. I felt like a student cramming for an exam; trying to be up-to-date with her current performances, interviews, and write-ups while going two or three years back to have a better understanding of the comments that her followers wrote about her.

Then, I stumbled upon a video of Charice singing “I Will Survive” at the Mandalay Bay in 2009. I was my usual self seated comfortably in front of my computer watching and listening when suddenly she ran to one end of the stage. I literally stood up and I heard myself say, “Hey, wait a minute! How could she run that way and sing flawlessly at the same time?” I right away replayed that part several times because of my disbelief that it could be done. I even listened to that part of the song without looking at the video just so I could convince myself that she did it flawlessly. I shouldn’t have doubted. I then let the video play up to the end of that performance without knowing that there were more surprises for me. She was just adorable and entertaining at the same time.

That night, which I now consider as the timestamp of my getting hooked on Charice, I could not reconcile that the girl I saw singing “Note to God” on Oprah was the same girl I saw running on stage while singing “I Will Survive.” I then concluded: If she could sing these two songs in the manner that she did, then, she could sing any song. Like Simon Cowell, I can confidently say, “And I was right!”