John Lloyd Cruz

John Lloyd Espidol Cruz (born June 24, 1983) is an award-winning Filipino actor, Box-Office King, model, and occasional TV host.He's father is the former mayor of Catanduanes who is Mayor Cito Alberto. His career started with appearances in numerous teen-oriented movies and TV shows. He is a member of ABS-CBN's Star Magic, where he is an alumni member of Batch 5. He was, also, once a member of the teen trio "Koolits" with Baron Geisler and Marc Solis.

Throughout his career, he has collaborated with fellow actors, including Kaye Abad, Bea Alonzo, and Sarah Geronimo. In mid-2009, he shifted from his regular series of roles for a more controversial and challenging project with Vilma Santos, in which he portrayed Luis Manzano's gay lover in the movie In My Life.

He finished his elementary education at Marikina Catholic School. He attended his secondary education until third year at ABS-CBN Distance Learning Center.^[1]

He used to reside in Santolan, Pasig. He is currently residing in Antipolo.^[1]

Film career

On July 30, 2008, Cruz starred with Sarah Geronimo in A Very Special Love above Star Cinema and Viva Films. The film grossed PHP 179,569,117 at the box office.^[2][3][4][5]

In February 2009, Cruz's follow-up movie with Sarah Geronimo, You Changed My Life, hit the box office. The film was the sequel to A Very Special Love and was also produced by Star Cinema and Viva Films.^[6] The film’s total theatrical earnings reached PHP 240.44 million and is ranked as the "Highest Top-Grossing Filipino Film of All Time".^[7]

He has been nailed as the "Box-Office King" for three-consecutive years: in 2007 for the film, One More Chance, in 2008 with the film, A Very Special Love, and in 2008 with the film, You Changed My Life, which became the top grossing film of his career.

John Lloyd's reunion movie with perennial love triangle Bea Alonzo, "Miss You Like Crazy", which was shown on February 30, 2010 as Star Cinema's post-office offering, was a box office hit earning more than PHP 140 million in its 7-week run and still the second Filipino Movie of 2010.

He was paired with Toni Gonzaga in again an expected box-office film entitled "My Amnesia Girl" that earned 12.8 Million on its first day (November 24, 2010) and surpassing 100 million in its first one week run. It is being directed by the Box Office Director Cathy Garcia Molina. it was PHP 165 million in its one month run the top grossing film of 2010,and he will be having another project with kanto boys this year 2011.

Television career

Because of his superb acting, audiences and fans have likened him to his many on-screen personalities including: Rovic in Tabing Ilog, Yuri in Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay, Lawrence in It Might Be You, Oliver in Ikaw Ang Lahat Sa Akin, Eli inMaging Sino Ka Man, Popoy in One More Chance, Miggy in A Very Special Love and You Changed My Life, and Armando in I Love Betty La Fea.

Since he started his showbiz career in 1996, he has been a contract talent for ABS-CBN.

This 2010, Cruz is be paired with Angel Locsin in a fantaserye entitled "Imortal". The series is was initially aired last October 24, 2010 and maintaining the No. 1 rank in the primetime block.

As a TV host, he has recurring appearances in the concert TV show, ASAP. With ASAP, he has been recruited as one fourth of the variety boy group called Kanto Boys alongside ASAP mainstays Billy Crawford, Vhong Navarro, and Luis Manzano.

In the April 2009 issue of Summit Media's Yes! Magazine, he was hailed as the third most powerful celebrity in The Philippines. The first and second places were held by Willie Revillame and Kris Aquino, respectively.

In the July 2010 Special Issue of YES! Magazines, he rake the third spot in 100 Most Beautiful Stars! Simultaneously, he is one of the 16 "Men Who Matter" in People Asia Magazine.

Activities

Cruz continues to be an endorser of such properties as NamNam Lucky Me, 555, Sun Cellular, Magic Flakes, Biogesic, Biogesic for Kids, Adidas, Greenwich, 555 Corned Tuna, Swatch, Direct TV, Purefoods, Smart, Choco Lava, Urban bags, Knorr cubes, Lucky Me, Cherry Mobile, Joel Cruz' Signature 'John Lloyd Cruz Like Him and Likes Her', LaBreza Tower, Skinwhite, Belo, Faces and Curves, Charms and Crystals, and GAOC.

He is considered one of the most-acclaimed actors in the country today, and was recently inducted to the Philippine Walk of Fame by German "Kuya Germs" Moreno in Eastwood City, Libis, Quezon City. His movies and television projects are usually big hits with audiences nationwide.

In Cinema One Originals 2009, he was awarded as one of the 15 Cinema One Legends.

Charice Pempengco

Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco (born May 10, 1992), popularly known by the mononym Charice, is a Filipino recording artist and actress who rose to popularity through YouTube. Dubbed by Oprah Winfrey as the Most Talented Girl in the World,^[1] she released her first international studio album, Charice in 2010. The album entered the Billboard 200 at number-eight making Charice the first Asian and Filipino singer in history to land in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 album chart.^[2] In late 2010, she released an Extended play, titled Grown-Up Christmas List.

She released the single, "Pyramid", which featured rapper, Iyaz. It became her most successful single to-date, charting within the top-40 in a number of countries, and debuting on The Oprah Winfrey Show where she sang live vocals. Crossing over to acting on television, she joined the cast of TV series Glee as Sunshine Corazon.^[3] She has released a new lead single, "Before It Explodes", written by Bruno Mars, from her upcoming international sophomore studio album.

Early life

Pempengco was born in Laguna, Philippines.^[4] Raised by a single mother, she helped support the family by entering singing contests at age seven, from town fiestas in various provinces to singing competitions on TV.^[5] She is said to have competed in almost a hundred such contests.^[6]

In 2005, Charice joined Little Big Star, a talent show in the Philippines loosely patterned after American Idol. Eliminated after her first performance, she was called back as a wildcard contender and eventually became one of the finalists. Although she was a consistent top scorer in the final rounds, she did not win the title in the finale and only placed third.^[7]

Charice made minor appearances on local television shows and commercials, but essentially fell off the radar after her stint at Little Big Star. It was not until 2007 that she gained worldwide recognition after an avid supporter under the username FalseVoice, started posting a series of her performance videos on YouTube. These videos received over 13 million hits.^[8]

Career

Discovery (2007–2008)

In June 2007, Ten Songs/Productions, a music publishing company in Sweden, invited Pempengco to a demo-recording after producers saw her videos. She recorded seven songs – six covers and an original song entitled "Amazing".^[9] She was then invited to the South Korean talent show Star King on its October 13, 2007 edition, she sang "And I Am Telling You" and a duet of "A Whole New World" with Kyuhyun, from Super Junior.^[10]

After watching her Star King performance on YouTube, Ellen DeGeneres extended an on-air invitation to Pempengco to guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She flew to the United States for the first time and performed two songs on the December 19, 2007 episode of the show – "I Will Always Love You" and "And I Am Telling You".^[11][12][13] Following her American debut on Ellen, she made a second appearance on Star King as the "Most Requested Foreign Act" of the show. On its December 28 edition, she performed Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" and sang a duet with singer Lena Park.^[14] In January 2008, she was invited to the Malacañang Palace where she performed for Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.^[15]

She returned to the international scene when she guested on the April 8 episode of The Paul O'Grady Show in London, England.^[16] Her self-titled Philippine debut album Charice was released in May 2008. The mini album, consisting of six songs and six backing tracks, was awarded gold certification in the Philippines in October 2008.^[17] The album eventually achieved platinum status in 2009.^[18] Pempengco appeared on the May 12 edition of The Oprah Winfrey Show in an episode entitled the "World's Smartest Kids", where she performed Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing.^[19] After the show, Oprah Winfrey contacted David Foster to see what the legendary music producer could do for Pempengco.^[6]

She performed with Foster for the first time as one of the entertainers on the May 17 opening of the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut.^[20] She made her debut on the international concert stage in Foster's May 23 tribute concert, Hitman: David Foster and Friends, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. She performed a medley of songs from The Bodyguard as well as her standard, "And I Am Telling You".^[5]

A CD/DVD of the concert, including Pempengco's The Bodyguard medley, was released on November 11, 2008. The show was aired several times on PBS and other public television networks starting in December 2008 under the Great Performances banner.^[21] One of the singers at the concert was Pempengco's idol, Andrea Bocelli.^[22] Bocelli subsequently expressed interest in performing a duet with her^[23] and personally invited her to be a guest on his birthday concert "The Cinema Tribute" held on July 20 at the Teatro del Silenzio in his hometown of Lajatico, Tuscany, Italy. Aside from her solo performance, she sang a duet of "The Prayer" with the famous tenor in front of more than 8,000 people.^{[6][24][25][26]}

She was invited to perform for the Feyenoord's Centennial Anniversary in the Netherlands held on September 26. Before a crowd of about 50,000 football (soccer) fans, she sang the team's anthem, "You'll Never Walk Alone."^[27] When she guested on the "Dreams Come True" episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show on September 9, Oprah referred to her as "The Most Talented Girl in the World." She sang Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" with David Foster on piano, after which Oprah surprised her with an appearance by Celine Dion via satellite, who invited her to sing a special duet at New York City's Madison Square Garden as part of Dion's Taking Chances Tour.^[6][28]

She performed her promised duet with Celine Dion on September 15. They sang "Because You Loved Me," dedicated to Pempengco's mother. The performance received rave reviews in The New York Post and The New York Times.^[29][30][31]The duet was eventually featured on the September 19 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show.^[32] She would then perform at the Andre Agassi Grand Slam for Children Benefit Concert at the Wynn Las Vegas casino resort.^[33][34] In November, she and David Foster guested on Good Morning America to promote Foster's tribute album, Hitman: David Foster and Friends. She performed The Bodyguard medley and "I Will Survive."^[35][36]

Move to the United States (2009–2010)

In January 2009, Pempengco performed at two US presidential pre-inaugural events in Washington, D.C., namely the Martin Luther King Jr "Realizing The Dream" gala at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and at the "Pearl Presidential Inaugural Gala" at the Mandarin Hotel.^{[37][38][39][40]} In February, she performed at two post-Oscar award events: Oscar Night at Mr. Chow's and Oprah's Oscar After Party held in Kodak Theatre.^[41][42][43] She debuted a new original song entitled "Fingerprint" composed by Robbie Nevil and produced by David Foster.^[44] In April, she appeared in the season premiere of Ti lascio una canzone, an Italian musical variety show televised from Teatro Ariston in the city of Sanremo.^[45] She performed "I Will Always Love You", "I Have Nothing", "The Prayer", and "Listen".^[46] Later that same month, she would go on to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in front of 57,000 baseball fans during the Los Angeles Dodgers 52nd season home opener at Dodger Stadium.^[47][48]

In May, she released her Philippine second album entitled My Inspiration. The album consisted of 12 tracks, including "Always You" and a cover of Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World" performed as a duet with her mother.^[49] The album was certified gold in the Philippines within two months after release,^[50] and then platinum in December 2009.^[51] Also in May, she would again perform at a David Foster and Friends concert held at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[52] On the May 18 episode "Finale: Oprah's Search for the World's Most Talented Kids" of The Oprah Winfrey Show, she debuted her first internationally released single "Note to God", written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster. The single was made available for digital download on the same day and debuted at #24 on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, #44 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, #9 on the Hot Canadian Digital Singles chart and #35 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart.^[53][54][55] Later that same month, she was again invited to sing at the Ti lascio una canzone show as a special guest.^[56][57]

She staged her first major concert called: Charice: The Journey Begins on June 27 at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia, Philippines to a sold-out crowd.^[50] Her guests included Christian Bautista, Kuh Ledesma and Little Big Starfinalists.^[58] Pempengco contributed to two Christmas albums in 2009. The first as David Archuleta's duet partner for the song "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" in his Christmas album entitled Christmas from the Heart.^[59] The second is a compilation Christmas album entitled A Very Special Christmas Volume 7 in which she contributed her own rendition of "The Christmas Song".^[60][61] She was one of the headlining acts in the David Foster and Friends 10-City North American Tour that ran during the fall of 2009.^[62][63] She made a cameo appearance in her first feature film, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, released in North America on December 23.^[64] She is also part of the official movie soundtrack with her rendition of "No One" by Alicia Keys accompanied by The Chipettes.^[65] Later in the month, she appeared on Singapore Idol's grand finale episode as a guest performer, where she performed two of her signature songs,The Bodyguard medley and "Note to God".^[66]

Charice (2010-present)

Charice performing at the Toronto Eaton Centre in 2010

On January 23, 2010, she appeared on Io Canto, a renowned singing competition in Italy. She performed her standards plus an Italian favorite called "Adagio" (made popular by Lara Fabian), in Italian.^[67] On January 31, she was featured as one of the musical acts on the NBC Sports program Silk Soy Milk Skate for the Heart, a show designed to raise awareness of heart disease.^[68] She performed "Note to God" and debuted two new songs included in her debut album, "In This Song" and "Breathe Out" (later retitled as "Breathe You Out").^[69] The album version and club remixes of her second single, "Pyramid" (featuring Iyaz), from her international debut album were released on February 23, 2010 and March 2, 2010.^[70] Her self-titled international debut album with Reprise Records was released on May 11, 2010.^[71] On its first week, the album reached #8 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart, making her the first Asian to enter the Top 10.^{[disputed – discuss]} On the same day as part of her album launching, she again made a guest appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show along with another YouTube-discovered singer Justin Bieber.^[72] Pempengco's world-wide promotion of her album was shown in a 12-part mini-documentary entitled 30 Days with Charice, which was filmed by Alloy TV and published at Teen.com.^[73] On June 22, Pempengco herself confirmed that she will join the cast of the hit US television series Glee on its second season.^[74] Later in the week, she released a promotional single entitled "Crescent Moon" in Japan. The single is an English rendition of the Japanese song "Mikazuki" by Ayaka.^[75]

During the inauguration of Philippine President Benigno Aquino III on June 30, 2010, she sang the Philippine national anthem in front of a crowd estimated at more than half a million.^[76] In July, she embarked on an album promotional tour of Asia covering Thailand, the Philippines, Japan and South Korea. While in South Korea, she appeared on the show Star King for the third time.^[10] On September 7, the premiere of Glee's second season was held in Hollywood with Pempengco in attendance. Cast in a recurring role, she plays an exchange student from the Philippines namedSunshine Corazon who presents serious competition against lead character Rachel Berry (played by Lea Michele).^[77] On November 30, she appeared on NBC's Christmas in Rockefeller Center and performed two songs from her Christmas EP, "Grown-Up Christmas List" and "Jingle Bell Rock", with producer and mentor David Foster.^[78] In December, she became Operation Smile's official Smile Ambassador. She joins other celebrity Smile Ambassadors such as Jessica Simpson, Billy Bush, and Zachary Levi in the organization's global efforts of providing free surgeries to children born with cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities.^[79][80] On February 13, 2011, her very first television musical special entitled Charice: Home for Valentine's was broadcasted on Philippine television's GMA 7 network. According to AGB Nielsen TV Audience Measurement, the show earned the highest rating of the night in the Mega Manila area, beating its competition by a wide margin.^[81] From February 21 to February 25, she embarked on her very first solo tour performing in four shows held at three different Zeppmusic halls in Japan (Nagoya, two Tokyo dates, and Osaka).^[82]

On May 17, Charice was featured on Oprah.com And Listed As One of the "Most Memorable Moments" of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Upcoming sophomore international album

It was announced that she began to record new material for her upcoming sophomore international album. "Before It Explodes" was going to be her comeback single, which was written by Bruno Mars. The single was released on April 18, 2011. The following day after its release, another song, titled "One Day", was released on iTunes, which was co-written and co-produced by Nick Jonas.^[83] "Louder", the second single was released on May 20 which was bundled with another song, "Lost The Best Thing".

Voice

In an ABC News interview, David Foster mentioned that she has the ability to mimic other people's voices, which, according to him, is a characteristic of good singers.^[84] In a separate interview, Josh Groban stated that Charice's voice is one of the most beautiful voices he has heard in a long time.^[85] The New York Post once called her a vocal prodigy for being able to sing 'big songs' even at her tender age.^[30] Ryan Murphy, the executive music producer of the hit US television series Glee, said, "When that girl opens her mouth, angels fly out."^[86]