Musical Actress Lea Salonga Praises BTS V in Latest Tweet
On Monday, Jan. 18, Lea Salonga praised BTS member V as being "perfect" and ended her tweet with a purple heart. In her tweet, she refers to V by his real name, Taehyung. As most ARMYs know, V was the member who coined the phrase "I purple you" during a BTS fan meeting in Nov. 2016, which is often used to mean "I love you." Ever since then, purple and purple hearts have become a huge symbol for BTS and their fans. It seems Ms. Lea Salonga is a true fan!
Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga is a Filipina singer and actress, best known for her roles in musical theatre, for supplying the singing voices of two Disney Princesses (Jasmine and Mulan), and as a recording artist and television performer.
Check out her tweet here:
ARMYs who saw the tweet thanked Lea Salonga for loving V so much and for showing him so much support. Many also agreed with her sentiments of V being perfect, with people mentioning how kindhearted and thoughtful the idol is.
This is not the first time Lea Salonga has showered V with adoration. Back in Sept. 2020, the Broadway legend revealed to fans on Facebook that V is her BTS bias. Lea Salonga shared a YouTube link from when BTS was filming their reality show "American Hustle Life."
In the video, Iris Stevenson, an academic mentor and choir consultant for the musical-comedy film "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit" (1993) is seen praising V's vocals as soulful, saying that people feel something whenever he sings.
Lea Salonga revealed she was told a similar thing by her mentor, Mary, while she was preparing for the role of Kim in "Miss Saigon," for which she ended up winning numerous awards. With that, she told fans, "And yes, Kim Taehyung is my bias, y'all." She then shared a video of V's solo dance practice to her social media accounts. Her Facebook post was noticed by Jed Madela, who had replied to her post. Jed Madela is a Filipino singer, TV host, songwriter, actor, and is the first Filipino to win the World Championships of Performing Arts. He then mimicked Lea Salonga by sharing the fancams of not just V, but all the BTS members.
In Dec. 2020, Lea Salonga penned a letter to V for his birthday on Dec. 30. She shared the letter on her Twitter. In the letter, she complimented V's voice, comparing it to a cup of hot chocolate in a winter blizzard, as well as with a warm hug at the end of a really bad day that consoles you. She then thanked the idol for his laughter, his way of thinking, his love for his members, family, and his fans, and for his honesty, candor, and sincerity.
She rounded that all up by thanking him for being him and wishing him a happy birthday.
Lea Salonga is considered a Filipino legend and is an active singer and actor. She started her career as a musical child actor in the Philippines and released her first album when she was 10 years old. When she was 17 years old, she was selected to play the lead role of Kim in the musical "Miss Saigon," which catapulted her to global stardom.
Internationally, she is known for being the singing voice of Jasmine in Disney's animated film "Aladdin" and as the singing voice of Mulan in the Disney animated film "Mulan."