orn into a family of performers, Sam Concepcion is such a talented 13-year-old. His parents, Raymund and Gene, were former stage actors with the Metropolitan Theater Company. There were also members of the Department of Tourism Chorale. Today, Sam's father, who also used to direct stage plays, remains an actor for stage and television, and a commercial model.

Sam's siblings are active members of Trumpets, Audie Gemora's theater company. Red, 20, is an actor and an acting coach; Kevin, 19, is an actor and a composer; and Gem, 10, is an actress and a member of Trumpets' Playshop Kids.

Together, Gem and Sam were part of the Philippine delegation that won the best folklore performance award in this year's Korean Travel World Fair.

But Sam's start in the business was nothing short of serendipitous. In 2002, retired actor David Cosico watched a play entitled Sino Ka Na, Jose Rizal? One of David's friends had asked him to watch the performance of then eight-year-old Sam, who played the young Rizal.

“He pulled my eye,” was David's immediate judgment. “He was attentive. He knew exactly what to do. He exuded confidence. He commanded attention. He had stage presence. It's either you have it or you don't.”

Convinced that he had a winner, David signed Sam up to Stages, the talent-management agency headed by Audie Gemora, and became Sam's personal manager. The child actor also trained under Trumpets, where he honed his singing and street-dancing skills. This training prepared Sam well for his biggest break, the ABS-CBN singing contest Little Big Star.

The theater background initially proved to be something of a liability. The impression of those conducting the audition, Sam recalls, was, like: “We're looking for pop here, you're too Broadway.”

But to Sam's surprise, he still made the cut—and he went on to win the competition this year.

Little Big Star ran for six months and may have put undue pressure on some of the contestants, but not on Sam. Says the young man: “I wasn't really, parang, you know, competing. I wasn't really in that mode na ‘I have to win, I have to win.' I was just doing my best to perform.”

Even David was impressed with how Sam handled the whole Little Big Star experience. “He only competes with himself,” says David. “In a competition, the parents, or whoever—they make the kids fight. You know, ‘Kalaban mo yan, kalaban mo yan,' or whatever. But Sam would be friends with everybody.

It is this attitude, this good-boy vibe—right up alongside his talent, of course—that has made Sam Concepcion pop music's hottest property these days. Riding high on the Sam mania among the so-called tween crowd (kids between childhood and teenage), Universal Records will soon release his debut album.

Everything's looking up, but Sam is taking it easy and just having a ball. As David points out: “He is basically a kid. It's just like play for him.”

A kid, all right. A kid with a lot of potential.

Sam Concepcion had the YES! photo shoot two days after he won the 2006 Nickelodeon Pinoy Wannabe Award. The award is given to a celebrity whom kids consider their role model. Says Sam about the win: “I got a chance to just thank the people who voted for me, thank Nickelodeon, everyone. Of course, I also thank God for everything.

Because of his hectic schedule, Sam had to give up going to a regular school. He was enrolled at the Christian Academy of Manila , but has now opted for home schooling. He's now a high-school sophomore.

Whether Sam feels nervous before a performance is something his manager, David Cosico, can't be sure of. “I wouldn't know because hindi halata,” David says. “It just doesn't show. Ke fiesta yan, ke guesting on TV, mall show, whatever—it just doesn't show.

When we pester him with questions about girls, Sam quips: “Is this Candy mag?” Then he tells us he doesn't have a particular type of girl. “I just turned 13. Hindi ko pa alam, e. But I know kung sinong pretty or not. I don't know how to say it, but I just know.” We ask what trait he doesn't like in a girl. “Maarte,” he replies, and mimicking a colegiala he repeats: “Maarte!”

Fans, especially the girls, can be weird sometimes, Sam says: “You know something, they are too much. ‘Sam!' from the right side, ‘Sam!' from the left side. I don't really know which way to go. I ignore the other side, what the heck. And if I ignore the other side, what the heck!”

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