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We caught up with “the most talented girl in the world” (dubbed by Oprah herself) Charice Pempengco, at the Life Savers Gummies Event in NYC today, where fans voted for their favorite flavor to be added to the classic assortment of colors. Charice is a very bust lady these days: she just released a brand new single and has taken on a big-screen role in the film Here Comes the Boom! out in 2012. The Glee cutie sat down with us in a one-on-one exclusive to talk music, advice, and of course, gummies. (She’s team orange in case you were wondering).

EG: So you were discovered on YouTube. Tell us a little about that.

Charice Pempengco: I got discovered on YouTube almost four years ago. Actually, this Korean talent show discovered me on YouTube. So I went to their talent show and after that performance, like a week after, Ellen Degeneres featured my Korean video on the show. So I went to The Ellen Degeneres Show and after just three months, Oprah saw the video. It was like one after the other. So she got me on the Oprah show. I understand that Ellen gave me a chance to, you know, come here in the United States for the very first time. When I came to the airport I saw the “Welcome to the United States” banner…it was amazing. But of course I think Oprah really gave me the big break. After the show, I was in a plane with my mom, and these two policemen went inside and were like, “you have to get off the plane.” I was so scared, I was like “I didnt do anything.” So I went off the plane—the plane left us, with our luggage, and they didn’t tell us what was happening and put us in a car. I was so scared. I mean can you imagine the police? And then they took us to the Harpo studios, and I was in a conference room and I was waiting there for like 30 minutes, and then Oprah went in…she just walked in and sat in front of me, and she was like, “OK, tell me your story.” So I told her my story, and I sort of told her that I was losing hope, because I really wanted to help my mom. And she said, “dont lose hope, I promise you something big will happen.” So she asked me who was my favorite male singer, and I told her Andrea Bocelli. And she made it come true…she asked Andrea Bocelli to sing with me. And she asked Celine Dion to sing with me as well, so she just made all my dreams come true. She made it all happen.

EG: So Andrea Bocelli is your favorite singer if you had to choose one. What other music do you listen to, whats on your iPod right now?

CP: Of course what’s in right now. I love Chris Brown, of course. NeYo, Usher, all the R&B stuff. But of course Eminem, I love Eminem.

EG: Your character on Glee, Sunshine, sort of has an underdog story. She made a victorious comeback in the season finale. Do you see yourself in any aspects of your character Sunshine, can you relate at all to your character on Glee?

CP: Definitely…especially you know with Lea Michelle’s character Rachel Berry being sometimes mean to Sunshine. That reminded me of my school days [laughs]. It was sort of real for me, but it was a great experience. But definitely yeah, I could definitely relate to the character.

EG: Speaking of Glee, how exactly did you break into acting from singing?

CP: Well of course they asked me if I loved acting, and I said, “well, I love acting, but I don’t know if I’m good at all.” So I took some lessons and everything. So this whole acting thing’s new to me. And when I actually auditioned for Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakquel [laughs], yeah Glee, and the movie Here Comes the Boom! came. You know it’s been a great experience, and it makes me love acting more.

EG: Do you think it comes pretty naturally, or is it something you’re really working on?

CP: I mean so far yeah, because they give me roles that sort of are just like me. So it’s just easy for me sometimes to just act natural.

EG: So you recently did a song with Bruno Mars who wrote for you. What other artists have you collaborated with recently?

CP: This is really exciting, but obviously I can’t say anything right now. But I’m very excited for the people to see, you know, on the back of the album who I’ve collaborated with…but I can’t give anything away [laughs].

EG: So the campaign you’re doing right now for Live Savers. You’re obviously team orange, can you tell us a little about this event?

CP: Yeah well obviously I’m here right now to support the flavor orange, but of course I want everybody to vote for their favorite. Of course it’s my favorite flavor, and at the same time, I love his [orange's] background, and I can totally relate to him. He was the underdog in this flavor vote. It feels great to support something, I mean it’s not a person, but it feels great to support something to see from 35,000 votes to a million votes. It’s amazing. But, I’m just saying that everybody can vote for their favorite flavor, it’s just very exciting.

EG: This has also been a really great way for you to interact with fans and reach out, right?

CP: Yeah definitely. I mean each flavor has their own story and background, and I want them to. It’s sort of like I want them [fans] to find their flavor. I want them to say ‘oh this is me,’ so it’s a great campaign, but I’m here for team orange.

EG: Last question: If you could just give one piece of advice to aspiring singers, what would that be?

CP: Everybody says this…but I think it’s the most important [thing] in the whole world: That is just be who you are, and don’t listen to other people and what other people say because they’re not you. And just be proud, walk out the door, don’t be conscious and be confident. And sometimes when you hear the jealousy and all those words, it’s just because they see something great about you that they don’t have.