Lea Salonga - Chronicles Of The Gem

As a child she would be on top of a coffee table using plugs as a microphone and sing. Lea Salonga or Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga was destined stardom. She dreamed of being a psychiatrist but her future said something else.

Lea Salonga spent the early years of her life in Angeles City but most of the time she is in Manila. She studied in O.B. Montessori Center, University of the Philippines College of Music's extension program and Ateneo de Manila University.

Even as a child, she had been really musically inclined:

* At seven, she made a professional debut with Repertory Philippines. She joined the productions Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Fiddler on the Roof, The Rose Tattoo, The Sound of Music, The Goodbye Girl, Paper Moon and Fantasticks.

* At ten, she received gold certification for her first album dubbed Small Voice which she collaborated with Gerard Salonga, her younger brother.

* In 988 her second album "Lea" was released.

* She became a member of teen variety show "That's Entertainment" briefly.

* Lea Salonga also appeared in local films "Tropang Bulilit", "Like Father, Like Son", "Ninja Kids", "Captain Barbel", "Pik Pak Boom" and "Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal".

* As a young star, she received a Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences, an award which is equal to the Oscars as Best Child Actress.

* She also grabbed three wins from Aliw Awards as Best Child Performer.

* When she was still in Ateneo, she had an audition for mega hit musical Miss Saigon and got the lead character role as Kim. The song Sun and Moon from the musical was tested on her and she impressed the panel and gave her the title role. The search was so celebrated that the while country, in all aspects expressed pride of this achievement.

* Her role as Kim in Miss Saigon won her the title "Best Performance by an Actress" in the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award. She also won the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Circle Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards for the same role she played in the same musical. To continually sell the musical, Lea Salonga was asked to periodically play as Kim on Broadway.

* Between 1989 and 2001, she became involved in other musical projects and productions like Les Miserables in 1993 where she played the role of Eponine for a Broadway production of Les Miserables.

* Lea received Presidential Award of Merit form President Corazon Aquino in the year 1990.

* Later, she performed the song "A Whole New World" for Disney's Aladdin as the singing voice of Princess Jasmine. She won an Oscar for the song.

* In 1994, she played for different musical theater productions in Manila and Singapore. She also starred in plays like Grease, They're Playing Our Song and Into the Woods.

* 1n 1995, she played as Geri Riordan in Redwood Curtain in Unites States. When she came back to Manila, she won Best Actress for the local movie " Sana Maulit Muli"

* Lea Salonga became a part of the "dream cast" for Les Miserables in Concert which was performed in Royal Albert Hall in London.

* In 1996, Lea continually played the role Eponine for the U.S. national tour in Hawaii.

* Lea continued her streak in music as she made gold sales for her album "Id Like to Teach the World to Sing"

* For the consecutive years, she had multiple platinum statuses in the Philippines for "Lea. In Love" in 1998 and "By Heart" in 2000.

* At the end of year 2000 she had a grand homecoming musical at Cultural Center of the Philippines.

* In 2001, she assumed the role of Lien Hughes in the soap opera As the World Turns.

* Lea performed again in Broadway for Flower Drum Song in the year 2002. She was given nominations and awards including Lead Actress from the Theatre Los Angeles Ovation Awards. The play itself was included in 10 best plays in 2002 by Time Magazine, a nomination from Tony Award for Best Book, Best Costume Design and Best Choreographer.

* She sang with famous international artists in a tribute number for Richard Rogers at the 56th Tony Awards.

* Another Aliw Award as Entertainer of the Year was given to her in the year 2003 as she made "All- Filipino" concert entitled 'Songs from Home'

* In 2005, she had her first U.S. concert tour in San Francisco, Atlantic City, Los Angeles and Chicago. She also included Norfolk, Virginia and Washington D.C.

* Lea was given the Golden Artist Award to honor her international achievements.

* Aside from being the singing voice of Princess Jasmine and Fa Mulan for Mulan and Mulan II she also had voice work as Mrs. Kubasake in Disney's My Neighbor Totoro.

* In 2006, Lea concluded the closing ceremony for the 15ht Asian Games in Qatar with the song "Triumph of the One"

* "Inspired" was released in 2007, her first studio album which was a certified platinum.

* Lea Salonga received another award from the President of the Philippines, which was the Order of Lakandula given by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in recognition of her talent.

The list of achievements still continues to add on and on. With the unmatched talent of Lea Salonga, it proved that she is truly a gem of the nation and she will always be a source of light and inspiration to all Filipinos.