Why aren't Filipinos supporting Cheesa Laureta like Jessica Sanchez?
Filipino viewers are throwing their support behind half-Pinoy Jessica Sanchez on American Idol and not for 100% Pinoy Cheesa Laureta who's parents are from Cebu and Manila. Why is that? The colonial mentality interspersed with faux-nationalism is astounding.
One of my pet peeves is how many Filipino readers on this blog gravitate towards Pinoy singers on reality singing shows like American Idol based solely on their Filipino heritage. Ramiele Malubay and Thia Megia were prime examples of contestants who got a lot of traffic directly from the Philippines in the past, with Filipinos voting them to the top of the various polls that I ran (which was a headache because it didn't reflect viewership in the US).
However, this year we have a case where we see a bit of irony in this "Filipino standard of excellence."
Over at American Idol, we have Jessica Sanchez, a half-Mexican-half-Filipino singer, who is the toast of the town among Filipino viewers. She's considered one of the front-runners this year. Her mother, Editha, is from Bataan. Her father, Gilbert, a Mexican-American, is from Texas. For the Filipinos who even "can't believe" that she's half-Mexican, Jessica talked about her father who was in the Navy when she auditioned for America's Got Talent when she was a little girl.
Over at The Voice, we have another Pinoy contestant Cheesa Laureta who has been mostly ignored by Filipino viewers, with some Filipino commenters even claiming she's NOT Filipino. It's ironic because Cheesa has actually a 100% Filipino heritage and have roots directly from the Philippines. Her parents are from Cebu and Manila, and are immigrants. Her father Joseph Laureta, is of Ilocano, Tagalog, and Pangasinan heritage, while her mother, Martiniana Laureta, is a full-blooded Visayan.
So why aren't Filipinos supporting Cheesa if they have traditionally gone nuts for Filipinos on these American reality shows?
Are Filipinos favoring Jessica because she's only half-Pinoy and singing on a show called American Idol? Or is it because she sings like Charice and Filipinos think that everyone should be singing like Charice (and Filipino heritage is only incidental)?
You can't even make a strong argument that American Idol is the more popular show now because The Voice has already beaten it a couple of times in the ratings.
Feel free to sound off in the comments.
Seriously, more Filipinos should be supporting Cheesa. She's the underdog and Pinoys love that.
