After seeing Quentin Tarantino in Barong Tagalog when he showed up at the Golden Globe Awards nominations (to announce the nominees in the acting categories) last week, another pleasant surprise awaits Filipinos in the US when they tune in to Ellen DeGeneres’ self-titled show yesterday, Dec. 18.

Ellen’s special guest is none other than our very own Charice Pempengco who finished third runner-up on ABS-CBN’s Little Big Star search last year. See what they’ve been saying about also-rans turning out to be, well, “more noticed” than the winners usually are.

What’s interesting is that it was Ellen herself who sought out Charice and insisted that she guest on her show.

You might be wondering how Charice got Ellen’s attention. Anyway, Charice’s fan who called herself “False Voice” uploads Charice’s videos in YouTube.com everytime Charice has a performance. It so happened that an Ellen staffer saw Charice’s YouTube videos and was impressed. The staffer called the attention of Ed Shapiro, Ellen’s lawyer, and Shapiro wasted no time in finding Charice’s e-mail address and promptly sent Charice a message. That’s how their exchange of e-mails started.

Last Nov. 28, the Ellen staffer got Charice’s contact number from Shapiro and, voila, after barely 20 minutes, Ellen called Charice and said, “Oh my God, I am your No. 1 fan. I want you here ASAP! I am so proud of you. See you here in the US.”

You know that processing of a US visa takes two to three months, but Charice got hers in only two weeks. Top-rate immigration lawyer and STAR columnist Michael Gurfinkel came to the rescue.

That same day (Nov. 28), Shapiro made a call to Gurfinkel’s L.A. office and, within minutes, Gurfinkel ordered his Makati office to contact Raquel Pempengco, Charice’s mother. On Nov. 29, Gurfinkel’s office received Charice’s documents and Gurfinkel’s L.A. office filed a consultation letter from the US guild of musicians that same day. On Nov. 30, the guild approved Gurfinkel’s request and, that same day, Gurfinkel’s L.A. office filed the petition with the US Immigration. A week later, on Dec. 6, Charice got her O1 (Entertainer Visa) from the US Immigration. On Dec. 12, Gurfinkel, who rushed to Manila, briefed Charice and her mom on the interview with the US Embassy in Manila. Charice got her visa the same day. On Dec. 13, she was off to the US for her guesting on Ellen, a big first for a Filipino artist.

“Michael also helped Raquel obtain her (Philippine) passport and US visa,” said Millie, Michael’s wife. “I’m happy for Charice.”

Charice started singing at age four and joining contests at seven. Before placing third runner-up on Little Big Star search, she competed in other shows, including Birit Bulilit (on IBC Channel 13), Batang Kampeon (RPN 9), Bulilit Popstar (GMA 7) and Junior Star Quest (also on ABS-CBN).

Among her favorite singers are Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé Knowles and Celine Dion.

Meanwhile, let’s wish Charice “good luck” on her big break in US TV.