Girl stunned the world with her grocery store karaoke performance – but where is Zendee now?
The last thing we want when we’re trying to get our grocery shopping done amongst the fluorescent lights and stop-and-start cart drivers is amateur karaoke hour going on in the background.
Nevertheless, a grocery store in the Phillippines has one set up – or at least they used to. And you may remember that back in 2012, someone made quite a splash on that karaoke machine.
Now, over a video of her performance has been viewed 14 million times – and that’s on just one of many uploads.
Not many people head out to buy their food ready to sing one of the more challenging songs out there to whoever is passing by, but 21-year-old Zendee Rose Tenerefe did.
And to be fair, that’s because she can knock your socks off with her rendition of “I Will Always Love You.”
The song is originally by country music (and, let’s face it, all-around) legend Dolly Parton, but it’s better-known as a Whitney Houston song, and it was on the soundtrack to her first feature film, The Bodyguard.
That’s the version most people are going for when they attempt the song – and that was certainly the case for Tenerefe.
While the video was pure clickbait, titled “A random girl steps up to a karaoke machine and floors everyone,” she wasn’t quite random. Or at least she wasn’t unknown in her home country.
She already had a Facebook fan page with thousands of followers. (And while it’s no longer active 8 years later, this one is and it has 47k fans.)
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But we’ll be honest with you – we were floored when we watched the video!
She’s amazing. she shouldn’t be singing in the SM Megamall’s grocery store, that’s for sure (and that’s not just because we don’t think anyone should be singing in a grocery store).
There’s no doubt the people around her were blown away too because it’s not like you see that kind of talent right in front of your eyes every day. She’s that special.
The video found her a whole new American (and worldwide) audience, and since it was a time when reality singing competitions were some of the most popular things on the air, everyone was excited about the prospect of undiscovered talent.
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Oddly enough, she had already entered some of those competitions, even trying out for The X-Factor Phillippines, but didn’t make the cut!
She picked up a karaoke microphone on the chance that someone might record her and upload the video.
And she got her wish!
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The good news is that the video did do great things for her – she signed with the record label Warner Music Philippines and released her first album in 2013.
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She also flew to the US and performed on talk shows.
Her career was up and running in the way she had always dreamed – no more grocery store audiences!
Of course, our attention spans are short, and we are always eager to move on to the next big “random” act.
We tend not to follow the “old” stories to see where people end up.
But Zendee is still out there making music. Over 92K people follow her on Instagram and she posts new videos each week. She’s also on YouTube.
She’s no longer a “random girl,” unless you just haven’t been paying attention.
But we still love her original video – the one that got her “discovered” in a meaningful way.
So be sure to scroll down below to watch her belt out “I Will Always Love You.”
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Source: youngjay0918 via YouTube, NBC News, ABS-CBN News, Zendee Official Website, @zendeeofficial via Instagram