Zendee Rose Japitana Tenerefe, known mononymously as Zendee, is a

Filipina Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or other ...

singer. She rose to prominence after a video of her singing a

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music i ...

version of

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...

's "

I Will Always Love You "I Will Always Love You" is a song written and originally recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton. Written as a farewell to her business partner and mentor Porter Wagoner, expressing Parton's decision to pursue a solo caree ...

" was put on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

by Yuan Juan a.k.a. youngjay0918. Known on YouTube as the "random girl of SM Megamall" she gained a following and went on to sign with the record label Warner Music Philippines. Prior to her discovery, she had already participated in numerous singing competitions in the Philippines.

Personal life

Tenerefe lived in General Santos City until she moved to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

to audition for the

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Philippine commercial broadcast network that serves as the flagship property of ABS-CBN Corporation, a company under L ...

talent search ''X Factor Philippines''. She failed to go far in the local version of ''X Factor'' but still made efforts to continue singing. Tenerefe also won as the Gensan Pop Idol in 2011, an annual competition every Tuna Festival.

Discovery and viral video

On July 28, 2012, a video called "Random Girl" was uploaded to the video site

by youngjay0918 a.k.a. Yuan Juan. The video showed Tenerefe performing karaoke at the

SM Megamall SM Megamall, simply known as Megamall, is the List of largest shopping malls in the Philippines, third largest shopping mall in the Philippines and the List of largest shopping malls in the world#World's largest malls by gross leasable area, th ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Her singing brought attention from viewers around the world and immediately became a

viral video A viral video is a video that becomes popular through viral phenomenon, a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan ...

. The original video got over 2 million views in three months. The video prompted the

GMA Network GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network, Inc. Its first broadcast on television was on October 29, 1961. GMA Network ( ...

magazine show, ''

Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho ''Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho'' (International title: ''One at Heart, Jessica Soho'' / ) also known as ''KMJS'', is a Philippine television news magazine show broadcast by GMA Network. Hosted by Jessica Soho, it premiered on November 7, 2004 on ...

'' to look for her and when she was found they featured her in one of their episodes. She admitted later that she sang in public to try and gain people's attention. Another video of her singing at the same event was uploaded to YouTube where she sings "

And I Am Telling You "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (also known in short as just "And I Am Telling You") is a torch song from the Broadway musical '' Dreamgirls'', with lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger. In the context of the musical, "And I Am ...

" from the

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and other ...

''.

Musical career

After Tenerefe was identified she began to be invited to TV shows. Her most "global" exposure was her appearance on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was pr ...

'' after being invited by

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom '' Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". S ...

herself. Tenerefe is the fifth Philippine-raised singer to be invited after global superstar Charice, Ramiele Malubay, Rhap Salazar and Journey frontman Arnel Pineda. She also met singer

Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single "The Remedy (I Won't W ...

and was the opening act in one of his concerts. Zendee released her debut album, ''I Believe'', in 2013. It has 10 songs and an acoustic version of her song "Runaway". Her second album, ''Z'', was released in 2015.

Discography

Albums * ''I Believe'' (2013) * ''Z'' (2015) Singles * "Runaway" (2012) * "Cutie Uyyy" (2021)

Shows and guest appearances

* Sing Galing Now Zending (2021-present) // Online Digiverse host * Party Pilipinas (2012) // guest performer *

Tawag ng Tanghalan ''Tawag ng Tanghalan'' (, abbreviated as TNT) is a Philippine amateur singing competition currently airing as a segment of the noon time program, '' It's Showtime'' on ABS-CBN. It airs on the Kapamilya Channel, a simulcast on Jeepney TV ( encore ...

(2019) // celebrity performer; she sings '' Run to You'' by

Magpakailanman ''Magpakailanman'' ( en, Forevermore) is a Philippine television drama anthology show broadcast by GMA Network. Hosted by Mel Tiangco, it premiered on December 2, 2002. The show concluded on December 27, 2007. It was replaced by the '' E.S.P.' ...

: Zendee Life Story (2012) // guest; portrayed role by Louise delos Reyes *

Lunch Out Loud ''Tropang LOL'' (formerly ''Lunch Out Loud''), is a Philippine late-morning variety show broadcast by TV5, Kapamilya Channel and A2Z which premiered on October 19, 2020. The program airs live every Mondays through Saturdays from 11:00 AM to 1 ...

(2021) // guest performer * Eat Bulaga: Bawal Judgemental (2020) // contestant; together with Marvin Fojas * Headstart (2012) // guest * Ellen (2012) // guest

References

{{authority control 1991 births Living people English-language singers from the Philippines Filipino television personalities Viral videos Warner Music Group artists People from General Santos 21st-century Filipino singers 21st-century Filipino women singers Filipino women pop singers Filipino Internet celebrities