Vanessa Hudgens
The recent Billboard Music Awards show was made even more of a special viewing experience for Pinoy viewers by the coincidental fact that it turned out to be a showcase for Filipino-American talents!
The Pinoy contingent was paced by the TV awards special’s cohost, Vanessa Hudgens, who has come into her own as a lovely and confident host-performer, a decade after she first made it as one of the teen discoveries of the “High School Musical” franchise.
She didn’t just pass muster on the Billboard awards show, she garnered raves for her winsome way of putting the program’s other elements and performers through their paces in a crisp and witty way. And her many costume changes in the course of the show made her an instant fashion trendsetter on top of her many other already established plus points!
Nicole Scherzinger
Another Fil-Am standout in the awards special was Nicole Scherzinger. The recording artist, actress and TV personality looked dusky, glamorous and edgy, styled to the nines to impress viewers with how far she’s come from her early days in show biz, more than a decade ago.
She first became a member of the girl group, Eden’s Crush, and rose to fame as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls before she hit it really big in the biz on various stellar platforms—as a contestant and winner on the 10th season of “Dancing with the Stars,” a musical theater star (“Rent” and other critically acclaimed shows), a film star (“Men in Black 2”), a judge on “The X Factor UK,” winner of the US show “I Can Do That”—etc.!
Nicole’s latest stellar showcase on NBC just last May 24 was the remake of the hit 1987 film, “Dirty Dancing.”
The production was generally rapped, but her performance garnered very positive reviews.
Hailee Steinfeld
Also a vision of beauty and vibrancy on the Billboard show was Hailee Steinfeld, who’s come a long way since she won the plum role of the young female lead in the remake of “True Grit” in 2011. She was only 13 years old then, but she clinched the plum part over hundreds of other auditioners.
She did so well in the starmaking part that she was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar. She then followed up with another striking performance as Juliet in the recent “Romeo and Juliet” film.
Since then, Hailee has consolidated her gains with other big-screen outings like “Pitch Perfect 2”—and launched another career as a recording artist in the profitable “sultry young stunner” mold made popular by Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande.
Bruno Mars
Finally, Fil-Am talents were stellarly well-represented by Bruno Mars, whose special production number enlivened the Billboard Music Awards proceedings in a specially vibrant and funky way.
Like Nicole, Bruno got his start in Hawaii, but has since emerged as one of the hottest male singers in the international music biz.
The way he’s coming up with one hit recording or performance after another, it looks like he’s headed—all the way to the top!