Bravo Charice! Charice's "Glee" debut hits a high note

CEBU, Philippines - In one of the scenes from her “Glee” debut, one song performance of Filipina singing sensation Charice draws wild cheers from the lead cast. And that could also speak for the viewing public's reception to her sparkling turn in the season 2 opener of the hit American musical-comedy series, as high praise has streamed in from fans, critics, and the media. 

True to character, Charice has let the sunshine in after weeks of dreary Philippine news—not only in the entertainment scene.

Charice was introduced in the pilot episode aired Sept. 22 (RP time) as the Filipino foreign exchange student named Sunshine Corazon. She appeared in a total of five scenes in premiere of the series that tells about the adventures and misadventures of a fictional Ohio high school show choir named New Directions. Two of these scenes featured her singing Beyonce numbers—Telephone (which is a duet with Lady Gaga) became her vocal face-off with the choir’s “Type-A, megalomanic” lead Rachel Berry (played by the Broadway-trained Lea Michele), and Listen, her audition piece for New Directions. 

In the episode dubbed as “Audition,” Sunshine is first seen riveted to the choir’s song-and-dance version of the Jay-Z/Alicia Keys chart-topper “Empire State of Mind” in an effort to attract new recruits. And that rare spark of interest among the mass of disinterested students doesn’t go unnoticed by Rachel.

When they accidentally encounter each other in the ladies’ room, Rachel merrily invites Sunshine to audition because “background swaying can be fun!” (This is the scene wherein Rachel exaggeratedly enunciates her every word to Sunshine, thinking the latter couldn’t speak or understand English. Normally, scenes like this would raise a howl among Pinoys, but it came across humorous and not condescending.)

Sunshine then begins to sing to herself a few bars from Telephone, and immediately, alarm bells ring in Rachel’s head. The two break into a vocal showdown, launching the first of several rivalries in the episode.  

With Sunshine obviously enjoying herself, eternally smiling, and taking the “duet” to mean that she is gaining a friend, the scene establishes that Sunshine would actually make a good addition to New Directions because she can be a team player—a prerequisite quality of every choir member. But Rachel views her as a threat, alienates her, and sends her to a crackhouse (where her sheet music is used as a toilet paper) instead of the real auditions. Rachel explains that her machinations are for the greater good of New Directions, lest old members, save for herself of course, lose their solo parts to the newcomer.

But Rachel eventually regrets being a mean girl to the new kid in the block, and finally invites her to sing before the rest of the New Directions and their director, Mr. Shue (played by Matthew Morrison).

Charice had minimal lines and acting as Sunshine, but the role generously gave her the opportunity to be the episode’s scene-stealer. The show’s creator Ryan Murphy has said on Newsweek that he was so impressed with her “Glee” audition that he vowed to write a good role for her. Charice, for her part, has said that her role allows her to be herself. And that is, one big talent in a small package.

She particularly nails her rendition of Listen, complete with her signature “valley-and-mountain vocals,” as New York Post puts it, and expressive hand moves. (Listen, by the way, is a perennial audition piece on reality searches like “American Idol,” but it often leads to a contestant’s downfall because of its technical difficulty.)

At the end of the episode, the New Directions’ intention to sign her up gets thwarted by the antagonistic cheering squad coach Sue Sylvester (played by Jane Lynch) who has tipped off the choir’s archenemy, Vocal Adrenalin, about the international talent in their midst.

In exchange for her membership, Vocal Adrenalin offers her something so hard to resist: a condo and green card for her mother. (It’s interesting to note how this close-to-reality tidbit was written into the script. We all know how close Charice’s relationship is to her mother. She always says that everything she’s doing now is for her mother, who singlehandidly raised her and her sibling after being abandoned by an abusive father. She even intentionally alters the lyrics of her songs so as to dedicate them to her.)

Sunshine also tells Mr. Shue that Rachel might make her life a “living hell” if she joins New Directions, hinting that their rivalry is far from over.

Although it’s not clear when we will be seeing Charice again on “Glee”, her return is a sure deal given the expected showdowns to come between New Directions and Vocal Adrenalin, who beat the former in last season’s regionals.

The series premiere ended as a ratings winner, according to USA Today, with “12.3 million viewers, which is also its biggest audience without an ‘American Idol’ lead-in. In addition, it was the top show of the night among young-adult viewers.” Charice, on the other hand, also won the nod of the US media.

CNN’s Marquee Blog: “Filipina singer Charice blew me away in this episode and I’m hoping we see her again. That such a big voice could come from such a tiny body will never cease to amaze me. Her duet with Rachel in the bathroom – although cut short by Coach Sue – was comical and her solo from ‘Dreamgirls’ was just… wow.”

LA Times: “She sings a remarkable duet (Lady Gaga’s “Telephone”)... She tears up the house with ‘Listen’ from ‘Dreamgirls.’”

Entertainment Weekly: “Charice/Sunshine's voice is insane, especially considering she’s about the size of a lawn gnome and dresses like a Harajuku girl.”

Billboard.com: “In the season opener, Charice sings a blow-the-roof-off rendition of Beyoncé’s ‘Listen,’ and ‘Glee’ co-creator Brad Falchuk says the intercut reactions of the ‘Glee’ cast to her performance were all real. ‘It was shock,’ he says. ‘She’s 4 foot 2 and she can sing like that? Ridiculous.’”

Wallstreet Journal: “The real talent this year, though, is Sunshine Corazon, played by Filipina singing sensation Charice. The Oprah-approved pint-size diva certainly gave Rachel a pre-heart attack in the bathroom while they battled to turn Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s collaboration of ‘Telephone’ into a catfight. Rachel’s surprisingly getting meaner, and it suits her. We see Sunshine gots some edge to her, too, with that sassy surprise of Dreamgirls’ ‘Listen’ in the audition.”

On top of that, Listen and Telephone made it to iTunes’ Top 10 most downloaded songs of the week.

Charice’s successful debut should erase doubts about her inclusion (read: that she was Oprah-endorsed) or that she’s just all hype, or a novelty that will wear off soon, because it looks like her “Glee” stint is going to open more doors of opportunity for her.

Bravo Charice!