Filipino carer, 47, wins Israel’s X Factor
Print Edition
Celebrations broke out in the Philippines yesterday after a Filipina who has spent nearly half her life as a carer overseas won Israel’s first “X Factor” singing competition.
Rose Fostanes, one of millions of Filipinos working abroad, won the television talent show late Tuesday with a rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” that delighted fans.
Philippine television, news websites, social media and even the president lavished praise on the unmarried, openly gay 47-year-old, who has worked abroad for more than two decades — including six years in Israel — to support her family.
Fostanes has been likened by fans to Susan Boyle, the middle-aged Scottish singer whose humble looks and shy demeanor belied a scintillating voice that captivated millions on the television talent show “Britain’s Got Talent” in 2009.
Fostanes’ day job has been to care for an elderly employer in Tel Aviv. She is one of some 10 million Filipinos who have gone to work abroad to escape poverty and joblessness back home.
Israel’s media said her victory had put the spotlight on the country’s low-paid migrant workers, among them tens of thousands of Filipinos, who work as carers or in menial jobs.
Ironically, her runaway success is unlikely to improve her earning prospects in the Jewish state, with officials saying she would not be allowed to put her talent to professional use.
“She can only work as a carer, according to the law,” a spokeswoman for Israel’s population and immigration authority said.
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