MANILA, Philippines - The e-mail was signed simply: Mado.

That’s the nickname of Madonna Decena, the Filipina singer who impressed audiences and judges alike on the reality contest “Britain’s Got Talent (BGT).”

She has passed the first round with flying colors and has moved on to the semi-finals.

Since being uploaded on YouTube on April 19, the video of her performance on BGT has gotten over 350,000 hits.

Before hitting the big time, however, Mado had gone through the wringer.

In a series of e-mails sent to Inquirer Entertainment, Mado related a story commonly told by countless Filipinos who have opted to work abroad. Although she often goes onstage all dolled up, life as an OFW is far from glamorous, she confirmed.

The 32-year-old’s first stint abroad was in Singapore, where she performed at Hard Rock Café and Club Momo, her father Rey Decena related in a phone interview earlier with the Inquirer.

Upon her return from Singapore, she was encouraged by high-school friend Renz Santos to try her luck in his new home, the United Kingdom.

With a student visa, she moved to Prescot in the UK in 2006. “Being a student, I was allowed only 20 hours of part-time work [weekly],” she recalled.

Back-breaking grind

Since gigs as a singer were all too rare, she worked in a Subway sandwich store.

“I took the late or closing shifts,” she recounted. “I had to clean and serve at the same time. It was hard work. Sometimes I had to drag my feet to get home.”

She also worked at a Choco Fruit outlet where she often stayed for “10 hours straight.”

Dad Rey said Mado didn’t mind the back-breaking grind. “She’s used to that. When she was studying in Miriam (College), she worked as marketing trainee at McDonald’s SM City and acted in stage musicals with Musical Theater Philippines and Trumpets. She wanted to help us out with her tuition.”

Mado admitted that her part-time jobs in the UK weren’t enough to make ends meet.

That inspired her to go back to music.

“Renz found Steve Jones Entertainment on the Internet,” she related. “They were looking for talents for a girl band. I passed the auditions and practiced with the girls.”

Her management company, however, decided to bill Mado as a solo act.

“That was how I got a work permit,” she said. “But I had to go back to Manila to complete my papers. So I went home in July 2007.”

That’s the last time she saw her two daughters: Ysl, 7, and Yra, 6, who are now staying with her parents Rey and Tess in their Quezon City home.

Best performer tag

Until the Internet connection in their house got disrupted last month, Rey said that her granddaughters communicated with their mother by chatting on Yahoo messenger every night. Now they just text and call each other regularly.

Between July 2007 and February 2008, when she auditioned for BGT, Mado sang in a string of shows and concerts.

She got good reviews from those stints and was declared “best performer” on at least two occasions.

Rey said his daughter was naturally drawn to competitions like BGT because she had joined and topped countless local singing contests as a kid.

“I was ‘Star Smile Factory’ grand champion,” she said. “I also joined ‘Lunch Date,’ ‘Tanghalan ng Kampeon,’ and ‘National Panasonic Quest for the Best,’” Madonna enumerated.

Her background in theater undoubtedly helped hone her skills as a performer, Rey said.

Stage actor and director Audie Gemora of Trumpets pointed out, “Madonna is a testament to how dedication ... can one day pay off. For years, she was in the chorus of shows like ‘Lapu-Lapu,’ ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,’ and ‘Joseph the Dreamer,’ but never once did I hear her complain about how small her part was.”

That Mado wowed the likes of judge Simon Cowell came as no surprise to Audie. He asserted: “She’s long been ready for such a moment.”

Singing from the heart

Singer Celeste Legaspi of Musical Theater Philippines told the Inquirer: “I worked with Madonna in several plays—particularly, for the centennial celebrations (in 1998). In ‘Katy!” she played Mary Walter and in ‘Larawan,’ she was alternate to Mikee Cojuangco. She has grown a lot as a performer from what I saw on YouTube. She always had a good strong voice, but now she sings from the heart. That’s what bowled them over.”

Mado recalled that the BGT audience’s and judges’ reaction stunned her.

“I didn’t expect that because I wasn’t able to give a hundred percent that day. I was on my own and not feeling well. I had [the sniffles] and had been crying at the pre-interview. I was trying to control my emotions, but I lost it when the audience gave me a standing ovation.”

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