THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA
www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 4 Number 7 | April 2014
ENTERTAINMENT
13
SHE’S got that pretty face but more than that Charlene
Sotelo is the newest sensation to hit the community’s
entertainment scene enchanting many with her great
voice.
THE Melbourne-based Whitney Houston fan
is getting ready for another performance next
month – a support act at the Carol Banawa concert in Melbourne.
She is bent on pursuing a singing career fulltime.
“The passion I have in music and the happiness I give to people through music made me
decide to pursue my career as a singer,” Charlene
tells AK in a recent interview.
Charlene has been gaining the attention of
concert-goers in recent years. In 2012, she did
the front act for an Aegis band concert and surprised many with her performance. She also did
a duet with Angeline Quinto in 2013.
Last year, she performed before an audience
of thousands at the Grand Filipino Fiesta in Sydney, a performance she counts as one of her most
memorable.
Indeed she was a revelation in that show.
Many who watched her believe she’ll go places.
“My parents told me that I just love dancing and singing whenever I hear the music playing even at my young age. At the age of 5 my parents enrolled me in a dance school and since then
I’ve been performing in front of people. Been active and even became an officer of a Dance Club,”
she says.
“My main inspiration has been soul music. I
love listening to Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion. When I listen to love songs
that take a lot of emotions, it just makes me want
to write my own and sing with them,” she says.
Since I was a little kid I have always loved
their voices; the inflections and colours in their
voices are just so amazing.”
Among Filipino singers, Charlene counts
Regine Velasquez, Lani Misalucha, Jessica Sanchez and Angeline as her favourites.
The year ahead will see busy days for Charlene as she ventures to work on a possible first
single and maybe even a solo concert. Soon she
may be conquering the bigger stag K