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Exactly a month ago, we wrote that 15-year-old Filipino singing sensation Charice Pempengco will be featured on the US TV show Oprah alongside other talented kids in a special episode dubbed as “The World’s Smartest Kids.”

Yesterday, the show was aired and Charice proved why she deserved to be there. At the end of her powerful rendition of Whitney Houston’s I Have Nothing, host Oprah Winfrey had nothing but praises for Charice: “Girl, that was fantastic! Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!”

The video of Charice’s performance on Oprah below.

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The star of Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana said she felt “so embarrassed” after pictures showing her naked back suggesting she was topless were released to the public.

In an interview with People, Miley said: “I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed.”

“I never intended for any of this to happen, and I apologize to my fans, who I care so deeply about. My goal in my music and my acting is always to make people happy,” she added.

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New! Video of Charice Pempengco’s performance on The Oprah Winfrey Show: Oprah tells Charice: Fantastic! Wow, wow, wow!

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Fourteen-year-old Filipino singing sensation Charice Pempengco will appear on the US show Oprah as one of “The World’s Smartest Kids.”

A short video of the episode which shows some of the world’s most talented kids, including Charice Pempengco, was released by the show last week. Taping has been concluded early this month but the episode is scheduled to air in May.

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The Neverland Valley Ranch property of Michael Jackson is to be foreclosed and sold to the public unless the King of Pop pays the balance of $24.5 million he still owes on the property.

A San Francisco-based title company confirmed the auction date on March 19.

If Jackson fails to pay the outstanding balance, Neverland would be sold to the highest bidder at a public auction on the courthouse steps. The initial asking price could be higher than the $24.5 million Jackson owes because of interest due and other costs.

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Forbes Magazine recently released its list of Top 25 web celebrities, compiling the most popular and/or influential online personalities today.

The magazine defined “Web Celeb” as a person famous primarily for creating or appearing in internet-based content and for being highly recognizable to a Web-based audience. The shortlisted personalities were then ranked according to their web references in Google, Alexa traffic and Technorati rank of their website, and TV, radio, and other press mentions.

Entertainment gossip blogger Perez Hilton topped the list followed by a string of bloggers and blog owners.

Only goes to show that, on the internet, just about anyone can be a star.

Wonder when a Filipino can be included on the list? Can YouTube sensation Charice Pempengco manage to grab a slot next year? We hope! But first, she’ll have to create a website or YouTube channel first then work her way towards becoming popular worldwide in order to be part of the list.

The Web Celeb 25

#1. Perez Hilton (Mario Lavandeira)
Age: 29
What: Celebrity gossip blogger (www.perezhilton.com)

Controversial gossip blogger Perez Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, styles himself as “The Queen of Mean” and has earned a rabid following, thanks to his sense of humor, snarky voice and irreverent habits — like doodling rude captions on paparazzi photos. His blog is hugely popular and Perez is increasingly becoming a TV star, with gigs including guest-hosting The View, appearing as a contestant on MTV’s Celebrity Rap Superstar and hosting his own series of specials, What Perez Sez, on VH1.

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Based on Forbes Magazine’s list of “The Top-Earning Young Superstars under 25,” there are apparently two groups of highest paid youngsters today: the Athletes and the Showbiz Celebrities.

In the Forbes’ Top 20 list released this month, five are athletes while the rest are actors or singers.

LeBron James, 23, of NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers currently tops the list, thanks to the $27 million he earned from June 2006 to June 2007. Other sports personalities on the list include 22-year-old footballer Reggie Bush (#2) and 20-year-old tennis player Maria Sharapova (#3).

Harry Potter’s magic worked for its three main celebrities, with lead star Daniel Radcliffe, 18, pocketing $15 million, landing him on the #6 spot. Co-stars Emma Watson (#15) and Rupert Grint (#16) had $4 million apiece.

The Forbes list calculated salaries, winnings, endorsement deals and royalties of each young star earned from June 2006 to June 2007.

The Top-Earning Young Superstars

#1. LeBron James, $27 million

Born: Dec. 30, 1984

NBA’s All-Star MVP and Rookie of the Year LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first conference title ever this year. When not on the court, King James oversees construction of his 35,000-square-foot home outside of Cleveland, which includes a bowling alley, casino and barber shop. This year he also acquired a minority stake in Cannondale, manufacturer of high-performance bicycles. (more…)

The latest online sensation today is Charice Pempengco, a 14-year-old Filipino singer who is currently gaining popularity worldwide thanks to her YouTube videos.

Charice first joined a Philippine TV network’s singing contest called Little Big Star in 2005 where she placed 3rd. Her renditions of Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You and And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going from the Broadway musical Dreamgirls were posted on the video site YouTube and became instant hits.

The videos were instrumental for her to be recognized by a recording company in Sweden, who invited Charice in June 2007 to record and launch an album in that country.

She was then invited in October to join a talent show called Star King in South Korea where she wowed Korean audiences with her performance.

The video was picked up by US entertainment show E!’s The Daily 10 and was also featured on Ellen in November 2007, where host Ellen deGeneres showed web videos of different people she wanted to guest on her show.

On December 19, Charice appeared on Ellen and received a standing ovation — twice! — when she sang And I am Telling You I’m Not Going and I Will Always Love You. Host Ellen deGeneres, during the show’s Christmas special, described her as the “most incredible gift” she is giving her viewers.

Watch her Ellen guesting video below and other video performances after the jump.

Join the Charice Pempengco discussion in the PMT Forum.

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Singapore Idol Hady Mirza bested 5 other idols from Asia to bag the crown as the 1st Asian Idol.

The Asian Idol competition featured winners of the American Idol spinoffs from six Asian countries consisting of India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam.

The competition followed a different voting procedure wherein voters from the participating countries were required to send SMS votes for two favorite Idols. The winner was determined through 50% viewers’ votes and 50% judges’ scores.

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While Teri Hatcher is busy “insulting” Filipino doctors and Philippine medical schools, here comes Britney Spears singing it doesn’t matter if she steps on the scene or if she sneaks away to the Philippines.

Huh?

Honestly, I don’t know what that means but that line comes from Britney Spears’s latest song that is part of her new album due for release next month.

The song is entitled, Piece of Me. You can listen to the song below.

Britney Spears mentions the Philippines in 03:14 and 01:17.

Complete lyrics of Piece of Me below.

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You're not alone.

Millions of netizens worldwide are searching the internet for nude pictures of the star of Disney's High School Musical film.

Search keyword tracking site, Google Trends, showed that "Vanessa Hudgens" is a more popular search term these days, beating "Paris Hilton" and "Britney Spears" — combined.

"Vanessa Anne Hudgens" is also this week's "Overall Buzz Leader" in Yahoo, which means the 18-year-old actress is the most searched subject on Yahoo! this week.

People are also recently coming to this site (www.pinoymoneytalk.com) not to read finance articles or join investments-related discussions but to view the pics. Our latest log shows that a majority of people coming to the site have only one thing in mind.

Are you one of them?

The pics you are looking for, after the jump.

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