Filipinos are born with a microphone in hand, the legend goes. Filipinos love to sing. We sing everywhere, in any occasion and through any emotion. Karaoke microphones, now mostly wireless, are as common in the Philippines like rice. If you’re touring the Philippines and find yourself in malls, it’s not surprising to bump into Filipinos, from absolute amateurs to awesome professionals, testing mics on display in music and appliance stores. We’ve compiled three (there are more, mind you) of those singing encounters:

Random Girl

She used to be known simply as the “Random Girl,” singing And I Am Telling You in a mall. Then we got to know her as Zendee Rose Japitana Tenerefe. Here’s how it looked like when somebody passed by the beautiful voice and started recording (which is a good thing, so we’ll know about it):

Charice Pempengco

The rise of Charice is spectacular, exceeded only by her talent. Here’s a video of her early years, singing Ikaw:

Lani Misalucha

Asia’s Nightingale, gamely singing her own song, Bukas na Lang Kita Mamahalin, in a mall. She’s using a standard commercial microphone, without effects. Without fuss. Lovely.

All videos and screen grab courtesy of youtube