Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga, KLD (born February 22, 1971), known as Lea Salonga (), is a Filipina singer and actress best known for her roles in musical theatre, for supplying the singing voices of two Disney Princesses, and as a recording artist and television performer. At age 18, she originated the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, first in the West End and then on Broadway, winning the Olivier and Theatre World Awards, and becoming the first Asian woman to win a Tony Award. Salonga is the first Filipino artist to sign with an international record label (Atlantic Records in 1993). She is also the first Philippine-based artist to have received a major album release and distribution deal in the United States, and one of the best-selling Filipino artists of all time, having sold over 19 million copies of her albums worldwide.

In 2005, Salonga gave her first US concert tour. Later that year, she performed to a sold-out crowd at Carnegie Hall for the benefit of Diverse City Theater Company. The same year, she received the Golden Artist Award at the 53rd FAMAS Awards in honor of her international achievements, performed during the grand opening of Hong Kong's Disneyland and recorded two songs on Daniel Rodriguez's album In the Presence. She also did voice work for Disney's English dub of Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro as Yasuko Kusakabe. Salonga wrote the foreword to Linda Marquart's "The Right Way to Sing" (2005). In 2006, at the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, Salonga concluded the closing ceremony with the song "Triumph of the One" before an audience of 50,000 people at the Khalifa Stadium.  In 2007, Salonga released her first studio album in seven years called Inspired, which was certified platinum in the Philippines She received the Order of Lakandula, with the rank of Commander (Komandante), from Philippine president Arroyo in recognition of using her talents to benefit Philippine society and foster cultural exchange. She has also received the Congressional Medal of Achievement from the House of Representatives of the Philippines. She returned to Broadway for another stint in the musical Les Miserables, this time as Fantine. Her rejoining the show boosted the musical's ticket sales. President Arroyo watched Salonga in this role, together with Filipino Americans Adam Jacobs as Marius and Ali Ewoldt as Cosette. Salonga received rave reviews and made it again to the short list of Broadway.com's Audience Award favorites as Best Replacement. During her tenure on Broadway that season, she appeared in Broadway on Broadway 2007 and Stars in the Alley 2007, spoke at the Broadway Artists Alliance Summer Intensives, guested on the Broadway musical 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and participated in Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS' 12th Annual Nothing Like a Dame event to benefit the women's health initiative of The Actors Fund. Right after doing Les Miserables, she performed in two events: at the US Military Academy Band's concert in West Point where she sang four songs and an encore and in her own concert at the Tarrytown Music Hall in New York. She was then busy with other concerts and musical events, including a Christmas presentation in Manila.  In 2008, Salonga gave concerts in the Philippines California, Hawaii, Hong Kong and Guam, and she played the title role in Broadway Asia Entertainment's international tour of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella.

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