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As expected, the pilot episode of American hit show Glee's Second Season sent another set of tunes to the higher echelons of the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart – with two songs featuring Filipino teen singer Charice Pempengco.Aside from giving the YouTube sensation two of her highest-charting songs yet on the tally, the feat also allowed her to surpass a record of R&B/pop singer Beyonce – when Charice's Glee cover of "Listen" charted higher than the former Destiny Child singer's original.
According to Billboard, Charice's heart-stopping take on "Listen" debuted at No. 38 of the latest results of the Hot 100 Chart. In comparison, Beyonce's original version –featured in the movie musical Dreamgirls – ended up on a much lower spot on the Hot 100 Chart, at No. 61, when the song was released in 2007.
Meanwhile, Charice's other Glee cover, Lady Gaga and Beyonce's catchy song "Telephone," landed on the much higher 23rd spot of the same chart. The original version became a Top 3 song for Lady Gaga and Beyonce earlier in the year.
Charice's rendition of "Telephone," which immediately razed the iTunes Top 10 Chart since it was released for download last week, received 102,000 downloads in a span of one week.
The Hot 100 Chart, probably one of the most popular chart in the world, is Billboard's over-all tally for singles in the United States based on radio airplay, digital and physical sales data, and streaming activity data.
On the Billboard Digital Songs Chart, Telephone and Listen charted higher, at No. 11 and No. 19 respectively.
Although "Glee Cast" appears as the artist for both chart entries – as with every other song that comes out of the hit show – "Telephone" is a duet between Charice's character Filipino exchange student Sunshine Corazon and Rachel Berry (Lea Michele).
Apart from Telephone and Listen, Glee's season-two-premiere episode earned for the fictional singing club three more Hot 100 hits, bringing its total chart entries in the said format to a record 69 since its appearance in June 2009 – besting Elton John (67) and claiming the sixth highest total in the tally's 52-year history.
The three other Glee songs that debuted on this week's Hot 100 Chart were covers of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind" (No. 21), Bruno Mars' "Billionaire" (No. 28), and the musical classic "What I Did for Love" (No. 51).
Charice first appeared on the Hot 100 Chart in 2009 with her debut single and Diane Warren-penned power ballad "Note to God," which peaked at No. 44. She logged her second entry on the chart with the international R&B hit song "Pyramid," which reached No. 56. The same song also became a No. 1 song for Charice on the Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs.
No longer a stranger to Billboard, Charice has sent a few more entries on its different chart formats, including "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," her duet with American Idol's David Archuleta, which peaked at No. 22 of the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart late last year.
Her self-titled international debut album, released in May, debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 Chart, No. 4 in Canada, and No. 6 in Japan.
Shortly after she made her American acting debut on Glee last week, Billboard ranked Charice 4th on its list of "21 Under 21" List.
"Oprah and 'Glee': they're two of TV's most powerful zeitgeist-definers, and both have fallen head over heels for Charice Pempengco," said Billboard.
"Credit the Queen of All Media for plucking the Filipina sensation from obscurity two years ago and introducing her to Celine Dion," it added. — LBG, GMANews.TV
