David Foster: I still believe in Charice

KUALA LUMPUR — David Foster is on the look-out for the next Asian singing superstar. The Grammy-winning record producer and hitmaker, who has worked with the likes of Josh Groban, Chicago, Celine Dion and the late Whitney Houston, admitted though that they came close to finding one a few years back with Charice.

David, however, isn’t giving up on the Filipino singer.

“There’s a lot of talent in Asia. If you just do the math, there’s a billion and a half Asian people here, there’s gonna be superstars here. We came very close with Charice from the Philippines. She has issues that she had to overcome and she’s trying to get over those issues and when she does, we will hit with her again because I believe in her,” said David during a presscon Wednesday in the Malaysian capital introducing him as the global brand ambassador of the Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia.

It was David who produced Charice’s first international album, which cracked the No. 8 spot on the Billboard 200 on its debut in 2010. Charice also appeared in David’s concert tours in the US and around Asia.

David recalled that it was painful to watch Charice, now 23, wrestling with sexuality issues back when she went on tour with him some years ago.

“When I say problems, it’s no big secret that she is with a woman, and not a man. And she struggled with it. It was so painful to watch. We were on tour when she was struggling with it, so it should be something that’s just is and accepted… I think she’s come to terms with it, and now she’s getting back to business and I hope that I can be (there) to help her,” he said.

Meantime, David and Charice will reunite on stage when the former brings his Asian concert series David Foster & Friends featuring Jackie Evancho, Peter Cetera of Chicago, Ruben Studdard, Boyz II Men and Natalie Cole, to Manila on Aug. 18 at the Big Dome. Charice last performed with David during Asia’s Got Talent finals last May. Season 2 of the top-rating talent search is set to air next year.

When asked if he’s going to collaborate with or produce any talent from Asia’s Got Talent where he sat on the judging panel with Anggun, Vanness Wu and Melanie C., David hinted at the possibility of working with Gerphil Flores. “The one girl Gerphil (Flores) from the Philippines who I love and I would see her in a few days, she’s an amazing young opera singer, she’s like a flower who had opened. The first day of auditions, she was this (flower bud). But you could tell she had a great voice. And by the end, she blossomed,” he said of the Asia’s Got Talent second runner-up, who was dubbed as his Golden Girl after she earned David’s Golden Buzzer fast-track pass to the semi-finals. “But yeah, I’m gonna find an Asian superstar. That is on my bucket list.”

Presently, David’s record label Verve has signed up a Malaysian singer-songwriter named Yuna. “Yuna is an artist that I signed, and we’ve just recorded a duet with Usher, I think that might be the thing that takes her over to the top. And I have 100 percent faith in her. We’re not giving up on her. Our goal is to make her a superstar.”

Charice with her mentor when she guested on Asia’s Got Talent

When asked about the qualities he wants to see in potential artists, David said he always gravitates to great singers. “Well, I’m drawn to people who can sing. I know that maybe that sounds like an oversimplification but there’s plenty of people out there who have hit records but are not great singers, and someone like Britney Spears comes to mind. She’s amazing, she’s got great hits and she’s got great choice in music but it’s just that I don’t know what to do with her ’coz she’s not a great singer. I’m drawn to great voices like Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Natalie Cole, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion... That’s where I’ve sort of honed my skills.”

Meanwhile, AirAsia’s big boss Tony Fernandes wants to be on board with David’s plans. Their ties go a long way back: Tony is a former music executive who had worked extensively with David before shifting in 2001 to the aviation business and taking over a budget airline company then in dire straits.

“That’s my secret wish in tying up with David,” Tony mused.  

“Just listening to David, my mind’s going overtime. We get involved in promoting so many artists and doing so much so I think AirAsia can help local artists, like the opera singer (Gerphil Flores) that David just mentioned. It’s fantastic to hear that a Malaysian artist is doing a duet with Usher, we got to support it and we’re going to get behind it, and and all Filipino artists (around the world), we will really get behind it.”