Zendee Rose Japitana Tenerefe, known

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

ously as Zendee, is a

Filipina Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino, English, or other Philippine languages. Despite formerly being subject to ...

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

karaoke is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone. Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...

version of

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

'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 career ...

" was put on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

by Yuan Juan a.k.a. youngjay0918. Known on YouTube as the "Random girl of

SM Megamall SM Megamall (formerly as SM Megamall Ortigas and colloquially known as Megamall), is a shopping mall located in Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. Opened in 1991, it is the third SM Supermall, after SM North EDSA and SM Ci ...

" she gained a following and went on to sign with the record label

Warner Music Philippines Warner Music Philippines (WMP) is a record label in the Philippines. It is a regional branch of the multinational music conglomerate Warner Music Group. Founded in 1977, the company gained its self-distributed status and has since began relea ...

. Prior to her discovery, she had already participated in numerous singing competitions in the Philippines.

Personal life

Tenerefe was born in

General Santos General Santos, officially the City of General Santos and abbreviated as GenSan, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippines, region of Soccsksargen, Philippines. According to ...

South Cotabato South Cotabato, officially the Province of South Cotabato, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Soccsksargen Regions of the Philippines, region in Mindanao. Its capital is Koronadal (also the regional cen ...

province until she moved to

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

to audition for the

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

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 2007, an annual competition every Tuna Festival. Tenerefe is in relationship with Archer Perez, a shoutcaster, esports event host and content creator, since February 2024.

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

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

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

viral video Viral videos are video, videos that become popular through viral phenomenon, a viral process of Internet sharing, primarily through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhon ...

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

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

magazine show, ''

Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho , ''Jessica Soho'' (, abbreviated as ''KMJS'') is a Philippine television news magazine show broadcast by GMA Network. Hosted by Jessica Soho, it premiered on November 7, 2004 on the network's Sunday evening line up. It is the longest runnin ...

'' 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 Tell ...

" from the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

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

''.

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'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The show ran for nineteen seasons from September 8, 2003, to May 26, 2022, in which it broadcast 3,339 episodes. It was produced by ...

'' after being invited by

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American former comedian, actress, television host, writer, and producer. She began her career in stand-up comedy in the early 1980s, gaining national attention with a 1986 appearance on '' ...

herself. Tenerefe is the fifth Philippine-raised singer to be invited after global superstar

Charice Jake Zyrus (; born 10 May 1992), formerly known professionally as Charice Pempengco () and under the mononym Charice, is a Filipino singer and television personality. In 2007, after competing in many singing competitions and several appea ...

, Ramiele Malubay,

Rhap Salazar Rhap Salazar (born February 3, 1997) is a Filipino singer and former child actor. He is known for his live performances and is commonly referred to as "The Sam Smith of the Philippines". Fluent in both English and Filipino, Rhap grew up in Pina ...

and Journey frontman

Arnel Pineda Arnel Campaner Pineda (born September 5, 1967) is a Filipino singer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the Philippines during the 1980s and internationally in 2007 as the lead singer of the American rock band Journey. Early life Arnel ...

. She also met singer

Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz ( ; born June 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. 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 Wo ...

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

References

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