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BABY-FACED teen singer Charice says she prepared for her debut on the hit Fox TV show
Glee by getting botox and an anti-ageing procedure 'to look fresh on camera', but her publicist said the botox was for muscle pain, not for cosmetic reasons.
The 18-year-old Filipina singer with a booming voice, who recently released her self-titled debut album, saw her career skyrocket after appearing on Ellen Degeneres' and Oprah Winfrey's talk shows. She underwent a 30-minute Thermage skin-tightening procedure and botox injections to make her 'naturally round face' more narrow, celebrity cosmetic surgeon Vicki Belo told ABS-CBN television.
However, Charice's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, said the botox was 'absolutely not cosmetic', and added the treatment was for muscle pain in her jaw.
Belo did the botox procedure in front of the cameras. "You chew gum and it turns out to be a favourite super-exercise for these muscles, your chewing muscles. So we will show you, this muscle here it's a bit protruding," Belo said as she touched Charice's face.
"It's like a ball, so we are going to botox that in order to get it flat so she will have a cuter face ... we want to give you the apple cheek look because it's cute, right?"
Charice, in the same interview, said last week's face makeover was part of her big preparations for her appearance on the hit show's second season. She starts filming at the end of this month.
"All people will be anticipating how will Charice look? Is she good enough to pit against Rachel Berry? So of course there is tremendous pressure," Charice said. Berry is portrayed by Lea Michele, who is 23.
In an earlier TV interview, Charice said she auditioned for Glee in mid-June in Los Angeles and was thankful to have been accepted.
"It's really a blessing," she said, adding she was "very proud to be an Asian, very proud to be Filipino."
Born Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco and raised with her brother by a single mother, she sang in local contests and appeared on TV talent shows in the Philippines and South Korea before she got a big break on The Ellen DeGeneres Show at the age of 15.
