Nicole Scherzinger to Sing at Pacquiao Match?

A few weeks ago, my family stopped over at S&R for some grocery shopping on the way home from Clark, Pampanga. As usual, the radio was playing, and I was taking a look at the cookies and cakes displayed on tables near the daily products while listening to the radio. The woman DJ was sharing her thoughts about Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, who allegedly refused to talk about her family during an interview.

I wasn’t listening too closely, but the DJ seemed a little ticked off about Miss Scherzinger not talking about her family. Whatever else she said, it didn’t really matter to me. However, one statement struck me: “Do you think Nicole Scherzinger is still worthy to sing at Manny Pacquiao’s match?”

Now, I have heard that Nicole Scherzinger had expressed her admiration for the People’s Champion as well as her desire to someday sing at one of his future matches. I was rather pleased. Miss Scherzinger was born in Hawaii and grew up in Kentucky, where I guess she had little exposure of Filipino culture so I don’t expect her to think too much of it. However, I was glad that she actually acknowledges her Filipino heritage and appreciates what Filipinos are capable of. In the past, she appeared in local commercials such as in Bench Body and Clear anti-dandruff shampoo, which I take as her way of saying, “Hey, I may be just half-Filipino, but I appreciate that you accept me as one of your own.” So why are people making such a big deal about Nicole Scherzinger refusing to talk about her family? I think I know: Filipinos probably think she must be somehow ashamed of her Filipino heritage.

I am not a fan of either the Pussycat Dolls or Nicole Scherzinger, but in my curiosity of the girl group’s lead singer’s ethnicity, I took a peek at her Wikipedia article, where I discovered that her Filipino father left her and her mother when she was just a baby; her stepfather Gary Scherzinger adopted her and her sister. Such a tumultuous family background—I wouldn’t be surprised that she wouldn’t want to talk about it. In any case, the fact that her biological father was a Filipino is hardly the case.

As long as Miss Scherzinger chooses to embrace her Filipino heritage as much as she likes, I wouldn’t have any trouble believing that she is worthy to sing at Manny Pacquiao’s match. If it’s such an honor for her to do so, well, I also think it’s an honor to have her among us as an admirer of the People’s Champion.