Lea Salonga on Esang de Torres: We will make things happen for her

MANILA, Philippines – The Voice Philippines coach and Broadway star Lea Salonga is very proud of what her protégé Esang de Torres has accomplished so far since her Voice Kids stint last year.

Esang was part of the Manila production of Les Misérables last March, where she played Little Cosette alongside fellow Filipina, Rachelle Ann Go, who starred as Fantine. Esang is set to fly to Singapore, where she will reprise the role until July with the Asian touring company. (READ: ‘Les Miserables’ Manila show review: Scaling the spectacle)

In an interview with PEP at a recent The Voice Kids studio visit, Lea said: “You have no idea how proud I am of that child.”

“I asked her to come to the house and I coached her the day before the audition to tell her what she has to do, what she shouldn’t do, and what they’re gonna look for.”

“And now she’s off to Singapore to be part of that Asian tour production,” Lea said.

The Voice Kids coach shared that she herself is amazed about what Esang’s achievements thus far. 

“I’m still flabbergasted and the production team has said, ‘She’s wonderful. She’s wonderfully talented. We love her. We love her in the company,'” Lea continued, referring to Esang’s performance with the Manila company of Les Misérables.

“I was like, ‘You have no idea how proud I am of that kid. She’s really talented, really special,” she said.

Lea said that while she is not Esang’s manager, she will definitely guide her in certain aspects. She also said that she would like to see Esang continue with her education. 

“As for other plans, we’ll just have see what happens after she comes home, what she wants to do. And we’ll try to kind of help her along the way,” she added. “But if we see that there’s an opportunity for her, obviously we’re going to tell her parents this is fantastic, you might want to consider having her audition for this.”

Lea said, “We will try to move heaven and earth to make things happen for her.” 

‘The Voice Kids’ expectations

In the same interview, Lea was asked if she now has higher standards for the upcoming season after her experience with Esang.

Lea said, “It was a matter of timing and then meeting somebody like her. ‘Oh there’s a kid, there she is.’ Everybody marveled at how wonderful she is but as far as the standard, it’s not just her.”

“Our top 4 was pretty crazy last season. We had Elha [Nympha], Reynan [Dal-Anay], Sassa [Dagdag], and her.”

“So it’s like, where do we go from here? So, Bamboo and I look at each other, we’re picky, but picky for the right reasons,” she said. 

Lea also said that they will turn for kids who they believe have “immense potential for vast improvement.”

“So the standards, it’s pretty much the same,” she said. “You gotta have something that we can absolutely work with and we have to be able to see that you have the potential to be the champion of this competition.”

Hosted by Luis Manzano Robi Domingo, and Kim Chiu, the new season of The Voice Kids airs on Saturday, May 28. – Rappler.com