In 2024, Espanto joined the cast of presenters on It's Showtime.
Personal life
Darren Lyndon Espanto was born in Calgary, Canada on May 24, 2001. He is the first child of Filipino registered nurses Marinel Gonzales and Lyndon Espanto, who emigrated to Canada from Nueva Vizcaya province in the Philippines.[3][4] Espanto also has a younger sister, Lynelle.
Espanto started singing at the age of three.[5] As a toddler, he serenaded his parents with the tunes like Hakuna Matata from The Lion King. When his family realized his talents, they urged him to pursue singing as a career.
In August 2024, Espanto underwent an emergency appendectomy.[9]
Education
Espanto, along with the other The Voice Kids finalists, received a ₱350,000 scholarship from Eton International School.[10][11] Upon moving to the Philippines, he attended Eton International School and later began homeschooling under The Homeschool of Asia Pacific, where he completed his senior high school with honors. In Grade 11, he was awarded with second honors. In Grade 12, he graduated with first honors and received two special awards, the Achiever Award and the Excellence in Music and Arts Award.[12]
Career
At age 10, Espanto won during the Main Edition Finals of the Pinoy Singing Sensation competition in Edmonton on August 20, 2011.[13][unreliable source?]
In 2012, ten-year-old Espanto auditioned for the fifth season of YTV's reality television The Next Star, singing Bruno Mars' "Grenade". One of the judges, Keshia Chanté, got emotional and told him that his voice was 'unbelievable' and 'controlled'. Judge Mark Spicoluk, on the other hand, stated that he 'lacked stage presence'. Nevertheless, after Chante asked him if he was ready, she and Tara Oram said yes, earning him the 'golden ticket'.
He reached the competition's Top 6, the youngest finalist in the show's history to do so.[5] His performances on the show included renditions of Rihanna's "Only Girl (in the World)"[14] and Maroon 5's "Payphone"[15] among others. He also had his own single and music video entitled "Gotta Give A Little Extra",[16] as well as two other singles, "Now"[17] and "Oh Oh Santa"[18] with the other five finalists. Ultimately, he lost to 14-year-old Brooklyn Roebuck, after singing his own single during the finals.[19]
In 2013, Espanto was cast in a guest-starring role on YTV's Life with Boys.[20] It was his first acting job.
During the auditions of the inaugural season of ABS-CBN's The Voice Kids, Espanto performed Jessie J's "Domino".[4][21] Coaches Sarah Geronimo and Bamboo Mañalac both pressed their buttons for him, vocalizing that he 'can be groomed to be a recording artist, a total package'.[21][22] Although Espanto revealed that he was Mañalac's front act during one of his concerts in Canada, he chose Geronimo as his coach, stating that she could help him a lot in the music industry.[15][23]
Espanto advanced to the finals after singing Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time" during the live semi-finals.[23] He received the second-highest number of votes, after Lyca Gairanod.[24]Lea Salonga commented that Espanto was phenomenal, while his mentor, Geronimo, stated that he was 'a winner and a complete package'.[25] He also sang "Somebody To Love" by Justin Bieber alongside other Star Magic artists.
In the finale, during the first round which was a power ballad theme,[3] Espanto performed Basil Valdez's song "Ngayon" where he received a standing ovation.[26] Lea Salonga left a warning to older performers, saying: "To every person Darren idolized, this is a warning to all of you: this kid will outshine you someday".[Note 1] Once again, Geronimo praised him and said that despite his talent, Espanto never showed superiority and instead listened to his coach.[26] On the final round of the competition, Espanto accompanied himself with a piano during his performance of "You Are My Song" while having a duet with the original singer Martin Nievera, where received another standing ovation.[27] At the end of the competition, he once again came in second after Lyca Gairanod.[28]
In 2014, Espanto said that he will not go back to Calgary, Alberta,[29] and that he was staying in the Philippines to try acting and do a project with his coach and mentor, Sarah Geronimo.[29] In August, Espanto became a part of ABS-CBN's training and management center Star Magic.[2] On September 11, Espanto's rendition of Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time" topped the Philippine charts of Apple's iTunes store, while his rendition of Justin Bieber's "Somebody to Love" placed second.[30]
In 2016, Espanto released his sophomore album "Be With Me". The album contains 11 songs from the singer, two of which are his original compositions.[40] On July 31, 2016, Espanto opened for the Philippine leg of Selena Gomez's Revival tour.
2017-2019
On May 4, 2017, during his Twitter party, Espanto surprised his fans with a deluxe edition of his sophomore solo album entitled Be With Me, to be released the following day.[41] Be With Me (Deluxe Edition) contains 5 bonus tracks: "I'll Be There" with Jed Madela, Acoustic versions of "7 Minutes" and "Alam", the viral hit, his cover of Sia's "Chandelier", and a stripped version of Young Hearts with Malaysian pop singer Nik Qistina.[42]
In 2018, Espanto made his acting debut in The Hows of Us. Espanto also became a member of the teen pop group ASAP G! Other members of the group are Isabela Vinzon, Jayda Avanzado, Ylona Garcia, Jeremy Glinoga and Kyle Echarri. The group formed on June 3, 2018, and disbanded in November 2018, when the show was reformatted into ASAP Natin 'To.
In 2019, Espanto was part of The Aces concert with fellow singers Lani Misalucha and Jonalyn Viray. The trio performed in Cebu, Davao, and Manila (at the Araneta Coliseum). Espanto and Viray, so called the Pair of Aces, also conducted a tour in Canada (Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto) in the latter part of the year. On April 12, he also appeared as the only Filipino guest performer in the grand finals of Singer 2019 in China. This was followed by the release of "A Whole New World" on May 24, wherein he and Morissette collaborated to perform the rendition of the song as part of the Philippine promotion of the movie Aladdin as handpicked by Disney. On November 25, the theme song for the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit titled "Side by Side" was launched, where he participated as one of the 11 ASEAN singers representing each member country. And on November 29, he released his single "Sasagipin Kita" which he wrote himself, also under MCA Music Inc. (Philippines) where it debuted at number 1 on the Philippine charts of Apple's iTunes store on the first day of its release.
2020-2023
On May 24, 2020, Espanto celebrated his 19th birthday through an online benefit concert entitled "D Birthday Concert from Home". The concert was streamed live via Espanto's Facebook page and garnered around 12,000 viewers and 251,000 views. Through this event, he was able to raise P838,206.69 which was donated to his home network, ABS-CBNPantawid ng Pag-ibig program.[43] On June 12, 2020, Espanto, in his capacity as UNDP Philippines Youth Advocate, became part of United Nations Development Programme's #Mission1Point5 climate action global campaign in coordination with The Good Co. via its social media platforms (@thegoodquote) with millions of followers worldwide.[44] On June 14, 2020, Espanto joined the iWant ASAP Online show as host along with the iWant ASAP squad, Robi Domingo, Maymay Entrata and Edward Barber (actor), weekly episode of which airs every Sunday.[45] On July 31, 2020, Espanto and Jayda Avanzado released a collaboration for the track revival "Sana Tayo Na" under Star Music followed by the release of the official music video on the same day.[46] On August 12, 2020, Espanto, also in his capacity as UNDP Youth Advocate, was invited as a keynote speaker for the International Youth Day Youth Forum 2020 with the theme "Building a Better Normal with the Youth", in coordination with IdeasPositive.[47] This event was streamed live via the Facebook Page of Ideas Positive and partners. On October 23, 2020, Espanto as UNDP Youth Advocate, together with Ria Atayde, hosted the UN75 anniversary celebration in the Philippines with the theme "UN75 2020 & Beyond: Shaping the Future Together", which was streamed live via the UN Philippines's FB Page.[48] On November 13, 2020, Espanto released his Christmas single, "Believe in Christmas", under MCA Music Inc. (Philippines). The song reached the number 1 spot of Apple'siTunes store Philippine charts just two hours after its debut. The official music video was released a week after and hit more than a 100,000 views within days after its upload on YouTube.
On February 13, 2021, Espanto released his cover of LANY's song entitled, "If This Is The Last Time", as part of a project with various artists under MCA Music Inc. (Philippines), in coordination with Universal Music Group. On February 20, 2021, Espanto and AC Bonifacio joined the Your Face Sounds Familiar (Philippine season 3) family as online hosts via the KaFamiliar Online and other digital platforms, weekly episode of which airs every Saturday and Sunday.[49] On April 18, 2021, Espanto did a homecoming production on ASAP Natin 'To where he was formally launched as "Asia's Pop Heartthrob" Darren. On May 28, 2021, Espanto released his newest single written and produced by Zack Tabudlo with the title, "Tama Na", under MCA Music Inc. (Philippines). The song climbed to number 3 of Apple'siTunes store Philippines in the first two hours of its release. On June 9, 2021, Espanto was launched as the main host for the weekly online show for TNT PH called TNT PopShow, along with co-host Adrianna So.[50] On June 19, 2021, Espanto has successfully held a sold-out digital concert called "Darren: Home Run (The Comeback Concert)". A re-run of this event was made available on June 20, 2021. Also on June 20, 2021, Espanto and his team released the official music video of "Tama Na" which secured the top spot of music videos on Apple'siTunes store Philippines a day after its release, and reached Top 10 of YouTube's trending videos in music on its first week. On July 11, 2021, Espanto was the special guest performer on the 2021 Bb. Pilipinas' Coronation Night where he performed "Together We Fly" composed and re-arranged by Ms. Chochay Magno. On August 27, 2021, Star Music released the "Marry Me, Marry You" official soundtrack album which includes tracks interpreted by various artists including Espanto who interpreted the main OST of the series also entitled "Marry Me, Marry You".[51] The song skyrocketed to number 10 of the Apple'siTunes store on the day of its release.
On April 1, 2022, Espanto released his latest track, "Pabalik Sa'yo" under UMUSIC Philippines. The track and the lyric video claimed the No. 3 and No. 1 spots of Apple'siTunes store Philippines an hour after its release. On April 26, 2022, Espanto was part of the special guests of P-pop group Calista's debut concert Vax to Normal.[52] Espanto is also part of the EZ Mil: Panalo Homecoming Tour 2022 which kicked off on April 29, 2022, at the New Frontier Theater.[53] On June 9, 2022, Espanto is one of the Southeast Asian artists who collaborated with English music sensation, Calum Scott for the version of Scott's track, "Heaven". The song climbed to No. 2 of iTunes store Philippines immediately after its release. On June 11, 2022, Espanto is also one of Anne Curtis' guest artists in her Luv-Anne: The Comeback Concert held at the Resorts World Manila.[54] In July 2022, Espanto was part of Vice Ganda's Fully VICE-cinated US Tour 2022 which includes performances in California, Seattle and New Jersey.[55] On July 8, 2022, Republic Records Philippines was launched and it will house known recording artists, including Espanto.[56] The same date, the teaser for Lyric and Beat, a musical series under Dreamscape Entertainment was released which stars Espanto among the main casts. The series premiered on August 10, 2022, on iWantTFC. Among the series' soundtracks, "Pagbigyang Muli" and "Duyan" interpreted by Espanto reached No. 5 of iTunes store Philippines' Top Songs a few hours after their release.
In 2023, Espanto performed in various events such as New Year's Eve (SM Mall of Asia) and Chinese New Year Countdowns (Chinatown), and national festivities. On February 21, 2023, Espanto was launched as the newest Hurado in "Tawag ng Tanghalan", a segment of It's Showtime, a daily noontime show airing on Kapamilya Channel and A2Z Channel 11.
On April 15, 2020, the United Nations Development Programme (under its Philippine office) launched Espanto as its first-ever celebrity Youth Advocate to promote its SDGs, focusing on climate action, biodiversity conservation and youth empowerment.[61] On September 29, 2021, Espanto was reappointed as UNDP Philippines' Youth Advocate for the SDGs for a second term, focusing on climate action, biodiversity conservation and youth empowerment.[62] On January 16, 2022, Espanto was the featured performer on the "By Request (a Benefit Concert)" series launched by ABS-CBN for the victims of Typhoon Odette, where a total of P464,000 donation was raised.[63]
Espanto is one of the country's most successful & top-selling artists of the decade, Billboard reported that his self-titled debut album "Darren" has been certified 2× Platinum in the Philippines, selling over 30,000 units in the country, while his sophomore release "Be With Me" sold 15,000 units (certified Gold) respectively.[78]
Chart performance
List of other charted songs, with selected chart positions and album name
^Translated from the Filipino language: "...Sa lahat ng iniidolo ngayon ni Darren, ito ay isang babala sa inyo: ilalampaso kayo ng batang ito balang araw".
^ abDarren Espanto was born in Canada. Thus, he does not possess his mother's maiden name which is Gonzales.
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