Mau Marcelo

Mau Marcelo
Mau Marcelo during her performance on Philippine Idol
Background information
Birth name	Maureen Flores Marcelo
Born	(1980-05-13) May 13, 1980 (age 36)
Origin	Lucena City, the Philippines
Genres	Soul, R&B
Years active	2003-2008
Labels	Sony BMG

Maureen "Mau" Flores Marcelo (born May 13, 1980) is a Filipino soul singer who rose to prominence as the first winner of Philippine Idol in 2006. She was dubbed as the "Soul Idol" and "The Black Belter" at the competition for her R&B-style vocals. She was also called "Philippines' Diamond Diva" after her much-applauded performance of "Diamonds Are Forever" by Shirley Bassey during the Movie and Musical Theme Week.

For a time, she went by the stage name Samantha Brown, based on her father's surname.

She was also the Philippine representative to Asian Idol, which was held on December 15 and 16, 2007 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Marcelo's father is an American citizen from Puerto Rico while her mother is Filipina. Her father left the family when she was four months old, while her mother died when she was 14. She has a half-sister from her mother and two half-brothers and another half-sister from her father.

It was Marcelo's mother who taught her how to sing when she was seven years old, wherein she first learned to sing "Somewhere Out There". She first performed publicly in a singing contest during her school's foundation day when she was first grade. It was also the first time that she won. She eventually joined different local singing contests around her native Quezon Province when she was eight, winning most of the time thus giving her a boost of self-esteem. She also learned to accept herself and her looks.

A year after her mother's death, Marcelo's father came into her life once more when he returned to the Philippines. It was the first time she met her American father. Since then, they had constant communication even though her father lives in Atlanta with his own family. She eventually graduated in Quezon National High School and attended college in Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation, both in Lucena City.