Lea Salonga is elated to be back as one of the coaches of the new season of The Voice Kids Philippines. The Broadway diva said that she is already looking forward to discovering new talents in the country.

“We know how many wonderful singers the Philippines has produced over many, many generations and now we have a brand new generation coming to us and it’s really nice to have a hand in picking some fantastic people and we found some amazingly talented young men and young women, boy and girls, and they’re not just vocally wonderful but they got an amazing personality which has been so entertaining for us here in the studio,” she said.

As to having Sharon Cuneta as the new coach in the show, Lea has some great words about the Mega Star. “It’s always an opportunity to have fun and Sharon so far had been so much fun and she’s a wonderful addition to the coaching panel here on The Voice.”

The Voice Kids finalist Esang de Torres, who was in Lea’s team last season, is set to play the young Cosette for Les Miserables in Singapore after the Manila leg of the show. “You have no idea how proud I am of that child,” Lea commented when asked about her reaction to the young singer’s success.

Lea recounted how she helped Esang prepare for the auditions of the Manila leg. “I asked her to come to the house the day before her audition and just to tell her this is what you have to do, this is what you shouldn’t do, this is what they are going to look for from you.

“And now she’s off and heading to Singapore to be part of the Asian touring production and it’s a wonderful production same as here in Manila and now let’s see what happens. I’m still flabbergasted and the production team has said she’s wonderfully talented, ‘we love having her in the company’ and I’m just like you have no idea how proud I am of that kid, she’s really talented, she’s really special,” the singer shared.

What does Lea hope for Esang after the latter finishes her stint in Les Mireables? “I want her to continue her education. Actually since she joined Les Mis even her spoken English has improved. As for other plans let’s see what happens after she comes on and what she wants to do and we’ll kind of help her along the way,” she replied.