‘Glee’ Gets Bigger—Filipino Pop Star Charice To Join The Cast

Becky Bain | June 21, 2010 2:15 pm

18-year old pop star Charice Pempengco, who hails from the Philippenes, will be joining the cast of Glee as a guest star during the second season. Because the one thing a show with an already giant cast needs is yet another supporting player!

A few months ago, a rumor surfaced that Charice would join the show as a regular cast member, but she tweeted that that was false. Either her manager got a little trigger-happy with announcing the news or Glee folks got wind of the rumor and figured it wasn’t such a bad idea, but Charice confirmed the casting on her Twitter

“It’s official. I’m on Glee (next season) but story behind it. When d rumor came out, it wasn’t true. But then after that… I tried to audition. And i made it!!! Let’s Party!!!!”

Charice will play a foreign exchange student who catches the eye of a male Gleek or two. Wuh oh, looks like the William McKinley High theatre troupe ain’t the only after-school club that’s got some major drama!

The teen’s self-titled debut album premiered on the Billboard 200 at #8, and her song “Pyramid” (featuring Iyaz) peaked at #1 on the Dance/Club charts. Her rising popularity in the U.S. can partly be credited to Oprah Winfrey, who had Charice perform on her show back in 2008, as well as a few weeks ago to promote the release of her album:

But is joining the cast (even if for a limited time) of the Fox hit a smart move for the pop star? Charice already has a pretty successful career as a recording artist, and she’s quickly picking up new fans as the weeks go on. Does she want to let her own music take a backseat while she performs covers of already famous songs on a tight TV schedule? On the other hand, being on the show will definitely propel her into household-name-territory at warp speed, much like it did for Lea Michele and the rest of the Gleeks.

And besides, Matthew Morrison has a solo album coming out, and Lea Michele is picking up tons of side gigs during the show’s hiatus (including starring in cheesy Shampoo commercials), which proves that Glee‘s cast can always find some time to pursue outside projects.

Are you excited for yet another addition to Glee? Or do you wish they would save their energy on providing storylines to the way underdeveloped and underutilized actors (hello, the mostly silent Mike Chang and Matt Rutherford) already in the cast?

[E! Online]

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