Just What The World Needed: A Younger, Bigger-Voiced (And Female) David Archuleta

Charisse Pempengco is a teenager from the Philippines who’s already something of a reality-tv vet in her native country, and she appeared on Oprah recently, eager to show off her (half-impressive, half-depressing) Whitney Houston impersonation to millions of Winfrey acolytes. Given that this clip is currently nestled in the upper echelons of YouTube’s most popular music videos–side-by-side with Archuleta’s performances from last night, even!–I’m going to guess that she’ll either be the “new girl” in the next High School Musical installment or be trying out for American Idol within the next two years. (A tip: Someone should sit her down with the cautionary tale of Bianca Ryan before she gets any big ideas/accelerates the inevitable blowing-out of her vocal cords.) [YouTube]