Lea Salonga promotes her album

If you say Princess Jasmine from Aladdin or Kim from Miss Saigon, there is instant name recognition. But who is Lea Salonga?

Lea Salonga is the talented 23-year-old performer from the Philippines who is the voice behind these memorable roles.

She was here Monday and Tuesday to promote her new album, titled simply, "Lea Salonga."

The album is her first popular recording that is not a soundtrack for a show and, as the name implies, it is part of an effort to make the singer/actress as recognizable as the parts she has performed.

Seeing Salonga in person, it's hard to believe that she has been an actress since the age of five. Despite the glamorous promotional photographs distributed before the press conference Monday, Salonga looks much like the pre-med student that she would have become if she hadn't gone on to world stardom through her role in Miss Saigon.

Her down-to-earth nature is reflected in her lack of a managerial entourage.

"All I have is my mom," she said, smiling, as she pointed to Mrs. Salonga standing on the other side of the room at the Jakarta Hilton.

Lea Salonga also expressed some of the challenges of the American entertainment industry; she is proud of her Filipino heritage, yet works constantly to avoid being pigeonholed by American producers who see her only as an "Asian" performer.

"I took the role of Eponine (in the New York production of Les Miserables) to show American producers that I can do other, non- `Asian' roles," she explained.

She ended the press conference with a dazzling rendition of one of the songs off her album, leaving the reporters -- for perhaps the first time ever -- at a loss for words.

Her album is currently on sale at selected locations in Jakarta. (dlz)