TO PREPARE for her shooting sessions with ?Glee? starting anytime now, top teen singer, Charice, was recently shown on TV undergoing several procedures intended to make her look better (and facially slimmer) for the cameras. Some of them appeared to cause her a lot of discomfort?but no pain, no gain, so she endured them as best she could.

However, one procedure caused us to wonder if Charice?s ?beautifying? regimen would be that beneficial to her new acting career: In some shots, she was shown being given some botox injections.

Now, botox shots are popular because they ?freeze? facial lines and wrinkles and make women of a certain age look younger. But, hey, Charice is still in her teens, so she?s definitely too young for the procedure.

Worse, botox shots could freeze facial features into an impassive mask of ?perfect? beauty?which is fine for you if you?re a ramp model, but terrible if you?re an actor.

Why so? Because actors, unlike models, need to show expressions and emotions on their faces, and this is precisely what botox shots strive to eliminate by ?locking? facial muscles and nerves.

Emotions

So, if Charice wants to do well as an actress, she should instantly stop with the botox shots. If her ?Glee? directors hear about her botox regimen, they might have a fit. How will they be able to get a felt and moving performance out of her if her face can?t express the emotions she?s required to share with viewers?

We hope that the TV report about Charice?s botox shots was imprecise or otherwise incorrect?so, no harm done. But, if in fact she did get them, we trust that their ?freezing? effect can still be mitigated before the young actress-singer shoots her scenes for ?Glee.?

Right after news about Charice?s ?beautification?

regimen hit the media, other people reacted the way we did, pointing out that the singer-actress was indeed too young to undergo such a procedure.

The strong public reaction appeared to have caused a flurry of cover-up or ?damage control? initiatives, with some of Charice?s handlers explaining that the botox shots weren?t really for a cosmetic benefit, but to relieve muscle pain. Another ?explanation? had it that the procedure was intended to flatten a facial muscle that made Charice?s face look wider than it should.

Concern

For our part, however, our concern is not about these side issues, but about the fact that Charice is too young for botox shots?and, more to the point, they could negatively affect her ability to express emotions with her face, an essential part of an actor?s work.

We worry that the potential ?freezing? effect could last weeks or even months, so Charice?s shoot for ?Glee? might be adversely affected.

We hope, of course, that these fears turn out to be groundless, and that Charice will come up with performances on ?Glee? that will do her proud. The lesson we can all learn from this? Leave well enough alone.