After her days on American Idol, the 20-year-old Filipina is on a pursuit of a new start for her. Standing not even 5 feet tall, she bubbles with energy.
"I'm a kid at heart," Ramiele Malubay tells the Celebrity News Service. "Seriously, it's kinda sad - I'm 20, almost 21, and my TV's all Disney channel."
The stylish Filipino American sat down with CNS before the Ft. Lauderdale show at the BankAtlantic Center. The show is part of the "American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008," which brings together this year's top 10 "Idol" finalists on stage. Ramiele Malubay was excited to be so close to home for the show.
"I graduated in Bank Atlantic in '05," she tells CNS exclusively. She adds, "I got to see my mom yesterday, and I surprised her at work. I called her in the morning and she was like, 'Where are you?'And I'm like, 'Yeah, I'm in Georgia. I won't get to see you until tomorrow.' So I went to her work, and she was like, 'Oh my gosh,' and she just started freaking out and crying."
Ramiele Malubay has been away from home since being on tour since July 1st. She says the coolest thing about touring is just meeting the people they get to meet like there's some celebrities that come to the show.
"I liked LA because I got to talk to and meet Randy Jackson. It wasn't like, pre-nerves. He was just normal, like we were sitting and having a conversation."
Ramiele Malubay says the tour has also allowed her to bond with the other "Idol" finalists.
"I knew everybody "before", but I didn't get to really know them until the tour. This is like, living close quarters in a bus," she says, adding, "They're really cool. I have no regrets. We don't fight. We're like a group of sisters. The guys - I don't really hang out with them."
With the "Idol" tour wrapping up Sept. 13, Malubay has been looking to the future. "Three weeks left. Two and half. Girl, like a couple days," she tells CNS, laughing. "I just want to go home! I just want to go home and see my dog."
Also, the singer plans to return to the Philippines in December for the Ramiele Philippine Homecoming Concert. She hopes that sassy "Idol" semi-finalist Danny Noriega will join her.
"I'm trying to get him to come with me," she says. "It's gonna be in the Philippines, so he has a lot of fans over there. He's like, 'I don't speak your language," and I'm like, 'You don't need to. They still love you.'" Noriega caught attention earlier this year on "Idol" when he repeatedly talked back to Simon. "That boy can have his own show, talk to himself, and still get ratings," says Ramiele Malubay.
Malubay is also interested in joining the likes of Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers on Disney.
"I'm trying to get in touch with Disney because I really wanted to work with them," she says. "It's just like singing and acting. I can do that, and I look really young. I would really love that. And they're really diverse on the Disney channel, culture-wise and everything, so I'd be really excited if they even called to pick me up."
Malubay adds that while she got attention for being on "Idol," it is still very difficult to break through in this business. "It sucks. I'm telling you, it sucks. It's hard. It's really hard. We'll see how far I get. Idol helps when you're on the show, but not really after."
Malubay says that if she does get a record deal, her album would be all about showing off her talent. "I'd probably do like, covers and try to write my own songs. But it'd be more like, showing off my voice, like belting and all that stuff. Something that'll showcase my voice."
In the meantime, Malubay says she may get the chance to do a duet with her own idol.
"It's supposedly in the works. I might get to do a duet with my idol in the Philippines, Regine Velasquez. She's like the reason I started singing. Her and the Spice Girls," she says. "Every girl loved the Spice Girls when she was younger. I still have those hits on my iPod.
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