Perhaps people in the live audience of Ireland’s Got Talent felt they were in for a good ride when they learned that 13-year-old Shaniah Rollo came from the Philippines. She got the crowd right at hello, or once her voice rolled in to sing the Cyndi Lauper classic “True Colors.”
The 2018 clip proves that true talent emerges on cue. Once again a young singer of Filipino roots shone brightly in front of foreigners.
“ Shaniah’s voice is meant to create a ripple effect in the music industry,” said talent development executive Rosabella Jao-Arribas who vowed to help the prodigy gets more exposure to remind everyone of her presence and gift.
Her Ireland-based friend Nathaniel Cabanero, a composer in his own right, was instrumental in discovering the girl from Sta. Cruz, Laguna.
Shaniah made waves at the 2018 Ireland’s Got Talent and was adjudged semi-finalist. The same year she composed and sang an original Irish Gaelic song for the 2018 Ireland Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
Small wonder she was invited and interviewed to join the ABS-CBN Pinoy Big Brother Teens. Then August last year, she appeared as guest on the network’s iWant ASAP.
“Her phenomenal talent is meant to be heard,” added Rosabella who founded RJA Productions LLC to handle deserving talents.
Shaniah, whose musical influences include seasoned acts Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, and Shaniah Twain, no doubt possesses the skill, potential, and even a colorful background. She belongs to the pool of talented Pinoys who by fate got to relocate to an arguably more prosperous country but whose star quality eventually shows off for kababayans back home to revel about.
Her growing number of fans should look forward to her first album that will showcase more her depth as a singer and grasp for language and culture. Insiders say that her rendition of the French song “La Vie En Rose” (Edith Piaf’s signature song) is “an incredible feat only a true, talented singer can successfully sing in its original language.”
The young charmer is likewise an A-grade student, being a consistent class achiever at St. Mary’s Secondary School in Glasnevin, Dublin. Even with a brewing international singing career, she intends to pursue business and accounting in the future.
To hone her talent she sings videoke at home or at every opportunity. She is part of a group of Filipino singers called Brightlights that joins and triumphs at singing competitions in Ireland. Apart from singing, she also plays ukelele, guitar, and piano. She usually plays music with her dad.
Raised in a close-knit family, Shaniah has remained cutely Pinay in every way, looking forward to her mom’s home-cooked Filipino dishes like adobo and dinuguan.
She expressed missing her grandparents and older siblings Mia and Gian a lot. It is her hope that she can be reunited with her siblings and their families in her new home country.
Her voice is paving the way for that to sync in.