MANILA, Philippines �?? Philippine singing sensation Charice on Sunday defended herself from criticisms that surfaced following her recent appearance in a popular gay bar in the United States to promote her current international single "Pyramid."

Charice, 17, told �??The Buzz�?� in a live interview that she was surprised that some people made a big deal out of her appearance at Club 57. She said it was not the first time that she went to clubs in order to promote the remix version of Pyramid.

�??Hindi lang ako �??yong nagpro-promote sa mga club. Ganoon talaga sila sa US�??. umaalis na po ako [after ng performance ko]. Nagpe-perform lang po talaga ako," she said.

Amid the issue, Charice was happy that Pyramid placed 4th on the US Billboard pop/dance club chart.

MANILA, Philippines �?? Philippine singing sensation Charice on Sunday defended herself from criticisms that surfaced following her recent appearance in a popular gay bar in the United States to promote her current international single "Pyramid."

Charice, 17, told �??The Buzz�?� in a live interview that she was surprised that some people made a big deal out of her appearance at Club 57. She said it was not the first time that she went to clubs in order to promote the remix version of Pyramid.

�??Hindi lang ako �??yong nagpro-promote sa mga club. Ganoon talaga sila sa US�??. umaalis na po ako [after ng performance ko]. Nagpe-perform lang po talaga ako," she said.

Amid the issue, Charice was happy that Pyramid placed 4th on the US Billboard pop/dance club chart.

MANILA, Philippines - Charice, one of the bankable Filipino artists in the United States, is set to return to "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on her birthday on May 11 to promote her debut international album.

In a message sent to abs-cbnNEWS.com, Charice shared her schedule on Oprah's show.

The schedule was arranged by her manager Marc Johnson.

Charice Rollout

April 12 �?? World premiere music video (of Pyramid) and launch of Charice page on Oprah.com (www.oprah.com/charice)

April 23 �?? relaunch Charice's story on the Charice hub page. Will include content from TOWS.

MANILA, Philippines - Rico Blanco�??s musical journey has taken him new heights of recognition and fame in his home country and he is now ready to move into the wider musical scene overseas �?? with Singapore as his first stop into the burgeoning Southeast Asian market. Rico�??s cross-cultural or international appeal was evident when he was asked to present two of his songs for the Singapore Radio Awards 2010 held last March 17, at MediaCorp TV Theater with Singapore�??s Acting Minister for Information, Communications and The Arts Lui Tuck Yew as guest of honor.

Rico, who was prepared to perform his popular English compositions, was surprised when asked by Simon Nasser, Warner Music Singapore marketing director, to include in his repertoire Yugto, the signature song of his highly popular and critically acclaimed record album, Your Universe.

�??It�??s a good song with a good melody that has a universal appeal,�?� explains Nasser. �??Moreover, it�??s the most-requested song by MediaCorp, the producers of the Awards program.�?�

Mediacorp is the leading media company which sponsored the Singapore Radio Awards 2010 in partnership with Warner Music Singapore. The awards night became a sort of launch pad for Rico�??s breakout into the regional music market considering that Singapore plays a strategic and central position not only by its geography but more because many global and regional media organizations operating in Southeast Asia have their regional headquarters there.

Flerrie de Leon, business development director of Warner Music Philippines, explains how Warner breaks new artists into the regional/international music scene. According to her, as early as January, Rico�??s Your Universe album was already released in the Singapore market. Since that time, the album�??s carrier hits Yugto and Your Universe have been constantly hogging the radio airwaves. Shepherding the record album from its first radio play to countrywide success is Nasser�??s handiwork.