Margaret Marie Necio Ortega (born November 26, 1993 in Manila

Manila

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

) is a singer-songwriter based in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

. On July 1, 2010, she became the champion of Star Factor 2010, a Hong Kong singing competition. She has been performing at numerous events since, such as the Philippine Airlines 70th Anniversary
. She is currently under the management of ALV Talent Circuit

ALV Talent Circuit

ALV Talent Circuit is a talent management company in the Philippines under the leadership Arnold Vegafria. One of the most Non-reputable talent agency in the country, it manages many Filipino talents who did not become famous and got taken advantage of so do more research before signing or else you...

 Inc. She has also been awarded the Ani ng Dangal

Ani ng Dangal

Ani ng Dangal or "Harvest of Honors" is an annual affair in the Philippines celebrated to give due of seven art disciplines of cinema, music, dance, literary arts, dramatic arts, visual arts and architecture with the inclusion of allied arts and multi-disciplinary arts who won international top...

 award for her achievement in music on the international stage, by the NCCA

National Commission for Culture and the Arts (Philippines)

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines is the official arts council for the Philippines.-History:In 1987, then President Corazon C. Aquino penned Executive Order No. 118 creating the Presidential Commission on Culture and Arts...

, presented at Malacañang Palace

Malacañang Palace

The Malacañan Palace, commonly known simply as Malacañang, is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the Philippines. Located at 1000 J. P. Laurel Street, San Miguel, Manila, the house was built in 1750 in Spanish Colonial style. It has been the residence of every...

. Along with English, Margaret can also speak Cantonese, Pilipino and Mandarin.

Education

A graduate from South Island School, Ortega had not realised her musical potential till joining Star Factor. Margaret had been involved in many of the varsity sports in her high school. She was on the junior varsity football and sailing teams. Ortega was also on her junior varsity and varsity basketball teams respectively. A few years before Star Factor, Margaret began to teach herself to play her mother's old guitar.

Star Factor

Margaret defeated 12 contestants. She earned the top prize of 3,000 HKD, a trophy and a recording session at MadMax Studios. She performed "Terrified" written by former American Idol judge, Kara Dioguardi

Kara DioGuardi

Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, music publisher, A&R executive, composer and TV personality. She writes music primarily in the light pop-rock, dance, and R&B genres. DioGuardi has worked with many popular artists; her songs have appeared on more than 159...

 and Jason Reeves

Jason Reeves (songwriter)

Jason Reeves is an ASCAP award-winning, American singer-songwriter and musician.  He grew up in Iowa City, Iowa before locating to California in 2005, where he began a long-standing working relationship with producer Mikal Blue and singer Colbie Caillat. He co-wrote many songs with Caillat, most...

.

Ortega's win caught the attention of the international media. Her first interview after the competition was published in the Philippine Star. Interviews with many shows such as 24Oras on GMA7, Biyaheng Langit

Biyaheng langit

Biyaheng Langit is a 2000 Filipino romantic comedy film directed by Amable Aguiluz. The film is based around a casino and stars Joyce Jimenez and Mark Anthony Fernandez. The film won six Gawad Urian Awards.-Cast:*Joyce Jimenez as Bea...

, RatedK on ABS-CBN

ABS-CBN

ABS–CBN Corporation is a Philippine-based media conglomerate. It is the Philippines' largest media and entertainment conglomerate. The corporation was the merger of Alto Broadcasting System which at that time owned by James Lindenberg and Antonio Quirino, and the Chronicle Broadcasting Network ...

, News5 Aksyon on TV5

Associated Broadcasting Company

The Associated Broadcasting Company, Inc is a television network in the Philippines, with main broadcast facilities and transmitter located at 762 Quirino Highway, San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City. The network was previously known as the , Associated Broadcasting Company remains the legal...

,
amongst others.

Music

Margaret's musical style is a mellow mix of acoustic, pop and jazz. Margaret has released some unofficial music videos and audio files on her official YouTube and Facebook accounts.

Charity work

Margaret is also heavily involved with charities. At the age of five her parents would bring her along when they did volunteer work or held fundraisers. She single-handedly raised ₱1 million pesos both in cash and kind for the victims of Ondoy and Pepeng last year by creating a group on Facebook.

In Hong Kong, she has been actively participating in charity works for Mother’s Choice and The Little Sisters of the Poor (Home for the Aged). She has also travelled to Tanzania, Africa and China to continue her charitable works. She intends to involve herself in charitable works in the Philippines.