MANILA, Philippines?Filipino singer Charice Pempengco has scored another triumph in her international career when her single ?Note to God,? released only in the United States, broke into the Amazon.com and iTunes music charts.
Amazon is America?s largest online retailer, while iTunes accounts for 70 percent of worldwide sales of digital downloads and is the No. 1 music vendor globally.
?Note to God? is currently No. 2 on Amazon?s MP3 Downloads Bestsellers and Hot New Releases section, and No. 1 on the Movers and Shakers, or the biggest gainer in sales rank as of Tuesday. It is also No. 9 on the iTunes chart.
The song is partly an emotional prayer whose lyrics are about what one would say in a letter to God.
It has just been posted on YouTube?the video-sharing website where the world discovered Charice?and is the first single in her forthcoming debut album being produced by her musical mentor, David Foster.
It is actually a cover version of a composition by Diane Warren (who also wrote Aerosmith?s ?I Don?t Want To Miss a Thing;? Celine Dion?s ?Because You Loved Me;? and Toni Braxton?s ?Unbreak My Heart?).
Oprah show
The 16-year-old Charice first sang the song on America?s highest-rating TV show ?Oprah? only on Monday?the day it was also released as a digital download.
On the Amazon Bestsellers chart, ?Note to God? ranks behind the Black Eyed Peas?s ?Boom Boom Pow? but has overtaken Lady GaGa?s ?Poker Face,? Miley Cyrus? ?The Climb,? Taylor Swift?s ?Love Story,? Beyoncé?s ?Halo,? and Coldplay?s ?Viva La Vida.?
On the iTunes chart, Charice?s single is ahead of Eminem?s ?Beautiful.?
Charice was again featured in a high-profile show on May 9 at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she performed with Foster in a tribute concert for Celine Dion.
June 12 celebration
On May 24, Charice will make her second appearance as a guest on the Italian musical variety show ?Ti lascio una canzone? (?Leavin? You a Song?). Its producers reportedly insisted that she return after having sung in the program?s season premiere in April.
She comes home to Manila on June 8 to participate in the Philippine Independence Day celebrations on June 12. She flies back to the United States on June 13 to finish recording her album.
Charice?s local music label, Star Records, has released her second Philippine album, ?My Inspiration,? which features original compositions by Filipino songwriters and a cover of Helen Reddy?s ?You and Me Against the World??in which she duets with her mother Racquel, who informally trained her to become a singer.
?My Inspiration? has likewise landed at No. 2 on the best-selling local albums chart of Odyssey Music & Video, a nationwide record store chain.
Charice is scheduled to have a major concert on June 27 at SMX Convention Center beside SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.
