Lea Salonga Announces “I Dare to Dream” Winner in Star-Studded Concert

It has always been a dream of mine to watch Lea Salonga perform live. I’ve always known she was a legend, but I only got to appreciate her when I transitioned into a showtune queen and slowly realized the impact she has had on musical theater. After all, this is the woman who played Kim in Miss Saigon, Eponine and Fantine in Les Misérables, and Grizabella in Cats. Let’s not forget that she voiced two Disney Princesses: Mulan and Jasmine in Mulan and Aladdin!

My dream of seeing Salonga perform live was granted when I watched her lead a star-studded night at I Dare to Dream, the concert finale of Globe Studio’s digital reality series I Dare to Dream. Inspired by Disney Princesses, the show follows six young girls who pursue their dreams with the help of Disney Legend Lea Salonga; host, vlogger, and ate Janina Vela; and experts in the field where the girls want to excel in.

For several weeks, they stayed in one house to discover their talents and explore their passions. There was Sirach Catipay, an aspiring chef who wants to share the world’s cuisines to others; Stephanie Jordan, a singing competition contestant who wants to enter the world of hosting; Hyacinth Leonado, who dreams of becoming a Broadway singer and actress; Jaden Narvios, who wants to be the president of the Philippines; Liana San Diego, who wants to be a veterinarian; and Alexi Tan, who’s striving to become an animator.

Each girl represented a Disney princess, and for the concert, they performed a song from that movie with Salonga, Aicelle Santos, Christian Bautista, Erik Santos, Vela, Julie Anne San Jose, KC Concepcion, Morissette, Sam Concepcion, and Tippy Dos Santos.

Some of my favorite performances were of Leonado singing Cinderella‘s “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” with Salonga; Bautista, Sam Concepcion, and Erik Santos singing The Little Mermaid‘s “Under the Sea”; Salonga’s iconic performance of Aladdin‘s “A Whole New World” with Bautista; and Morrissette’s powerful performance of Moana‘s “How Far I’ll Go.” The last part was positively hair-raising!

The concert was a magical evening, which was made even more magical when Salonga announced that all six girls are the winners, and that they would all fly to Japan and walk down the red carpet for the Beauty and the Beast premiere and visit Tokyo Disneyland! I feel like this is a great decision because all the girls are talented and charming in their own ways.

The night ended with Salonga and the girls (some of them were crying, so cute!) singing Pinocchio‘s “When You Wish Upon a Star.” It was a touching concert, especially when montages of the girls’ mentors were being screened, saying how much they believed in the girls. It takes a lot to succeed, but sometimes, what you need is just one person who believes in you.

The Disney Princess: I Dare to Dream web series can be seen on Globe’s YouTube channel and on www.idaretodream.ph starting February 25. The live concert extravaganza was held on March 22 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. The web series will also air on Disney Channel and on the Disney Channel mobile app in May.

Photos provided by Globe Telecom

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