Her song Anything’s Possible speaks of how Jasmine Villegas, the Filipino-Mexican who sang The Star Spangled Banner in the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez boxing match early this year, will work her way to Hollywood and eventually to stardom. The 14-year-old native of San Jose, California never fails to amuse everyone with her Alicia Keys-Whitney Houston vocal stylings. What is impressive to note is that Jasmine has never taken any formal voice training.
“My music is a mix of R&B, soul and pop. My songs encourage children to follow their dreams,” says Jasmine, daughter of Mexican and US-born Robert Villegas and Filipino and US-raised Bernadette Vales. “My music also reflects my personality and who I am.”
Jasmine is also a crossover artist. She has endorsed products like Macys, Hewlett Packard, Kohls, American Girl, Home Depot, Levi’s, McDonalds and Mary Kate and Ashley. The girl with a big voice has also shown her flair for acting in shows like That’s So Raven, House Broken and The Nine. From the time she hit the recording studio three years ago, Jasmine has recorded originals like Hot Like Fire, I’ll Be Around, Think Big and Anything’s Possible. She and her manager are looking for a recording company that will release Jasmine’s debut album.
Jasmine has toured around the US and done more than 200 shows headlining educational school programs and singing the US national anthem in baseball, basketball and boxing matches.
Away from the klieg lights, she loves fun atmosphere and wants everything to be simple and natural. She doesn’t want to wear heavy makeup. The only beauty must-have she can’t live without is her lip gloss.
Recently, Jasmine was the toast of the town as she appeared on Kapuso shows like 24 Oras, Kung Ako Ikaw, S.O.P., Showbiz Central and Star Talk. This was part of the invitation of Jasmine’s Philippine representatives Manny Pacquiao and Eric Pineda to test the waters of the local tinseltown. On the side, Jasmine had the chance to meet her mom’s family and relatives from Kawit, Cavite.
If there’s one thing this “Angel with an Old Soul” proves to everyone, it is the fact that looks can be deceiving and surprises do come in small packages. — Jerry Donato