Zendee has more fun at The STAR: The small girl with a big voice

MANILA, Philippines - Life is definitely full of surprises. This, Zendee Rose Tenerefe found out since the day her videoke performance in a mall was uploaded on YouTube and went viral with over a million views in just a short span of time.

“Until now, I can’t believe that I’ve reached this far. From being a Random Girl who never tires of looking for an opportunity to make it in the music scene, eto na dumating na, dati ako ang nag-hahanap ng raket; ngayon ako na ang hinahanap ng raket,” Zendee Rose happily shares after performing in The STAR’s 27th anniversary celebration last Monday.

The STAR Troopers were impressed with her big voice that could make other local singing stars think about working harder in improving their vocal power. Zendee’s rendition of Rihanna’s Diamonds was one shining number. Her version of Pink’s Just Give Me A Reason made everyone in the crowd ecstatic and instantly fell in love with her take on Love Takes Time by Mariah Carey. Did I hear oohs and aahs while she was belting out Mamma Knows Best by Jessie J? Who wouldn’t when Zendee can effortlessly shift her tones from the lowest to the highest of notes. All hands automatically went up in the air to applaud her every performance.  

Zendee relates she enjoys attending to work, work and more work that never seem to stop landing on her lap. She just came from a stint in Singapore where she represented the Philippines in the concert titled Under The Stars: The YouTube Sensations. She performed cuts from her album and had a duet with American Idol alumnus and YouTube sensation Nate Tao.

Invitations and album promo tours, too, make her schedule tight. In fact, she has started going to different places around the country to promote her album, I Believe, under Warner Music Philippines.

She feels like floating on Cloud Nine every time people recognize her. “It’s different now because upon seeing me, they will say, ‘Ay si Zendee yan sa YouTube.’ Nakakatuwa lang; ang sarap ng feeling.” 

Since her YouTube video went viral, her life has made a 180-degree turn, Zendee admits. “I really tried hard to realize my dream by uploading my videos on YouTube. Di ako nag-sasawa noon na mag-upload without expecting na ang mag-dadala sa kin sa pangarap ko  ay ibang tao ang nag-upload.”

For those not quite familiar, Zendee’s vocal talent was discovered at SM Megamall while she was performing in a videoke Jennifer Holliday’s And I Am Telling You. The video of her performance was posted on YouTube under the title Random Girl. It quickly went viral, garnering over two million hits. What came next was a recording contract from Warner Music Philippines and an invitation to appear in The Ellen de Generes Show.

That’s why, Zendee is more than grateful to Yuan Juan, the guy who uploaded the video. She shares that she was totally clueless about the person who took time out to post her “Megamall show” on YouTube. “When it reached one million hits, I posted a note on my Facebook telling that I wanted to meet the one who posted the video. I mentioned on the note the exact day and time of my return to the mall. So ayun, when I went there, I meet Yuan. He told me he was responsible for that ‘wonderful act ’ (laughs).”

Zendee considers Yuan as her angel. “Di ba parang he’s heaven-sent. Besides, Yuan is so kind, he didn’t ask anything in return. He just wants us to be friends. We do go out once in a while.”

And how will she describe her life now?

“I enjoy meeting other people but I’m still the simple girl from GenSan who thinks about the welfare of my family. Whatever success I’m getting now, I make it a point to share it with my mom who supports me in every endeavor. I can proudly say that I’m now able to help in the family finances — I send my cousin to school kasi only child naman ako.”

And if there’s one thing she finds most challenging since her first TV guesting, it is “to look beautiful. Ang hirap kasi mag-paganda; dapat lagi akong maganda, ha,ha,ha,ha.”

By September, Zendee will be flying in to Australia to appear on a TV show. The invitation came from Togsy, the show producer, who reached her through the social networking sites YouTube and Facebook.

“Togsy invited me to perform and according to him, he will be glad to help me make a name in Australia. I hope and pray that everything will turn out fine,” Zendee says.