Early life

 

Espanto was born on May 24, 2001 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. His family includes his Filipino parents Marinel and Lyndon Espanto, who emigrated from Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines, and his younger sister named Lynelle. Despite living in Canada, his parents taught him Filipino language particularly Tagalog, and remain fluent with it, he said, "When I went home from school, when I'm still speaking English they will tell me 'you are not in the school anymore, you're in the house, you should speak Tagalog' so that's how I became fluent in Tagalog."

Espanto started singing at the age of two. In manila bulletin interview Espanto stated that: "When I was little, I would listen to some songs and I'd try to copy the tune to it." As a toddler, Espanto serenaded his parents with the tunes from The Lion King or Sleeping Beauty in their home, which led to his relatives to discover his singing potential and urge him to pursue and hone his raw talent. His parents were supportive of his dreams and talents, his father taught him the basics of singing, and his mother who was a choreographer during high school days, helped him infused dance into his singing performance.

Before joining The Next Star, Espanto first joined a singing contest for young Filipinos in Edmonton, and won during the Masters Finals of Pinoy Singing Sensation on November 19, 2011, singing Alone by Celine Dion.

2012–2013: The Next Star
In 2012, ten-year-old Espanto auditioned for YTV's reality television The Next Star Season 5, singing Bruno Mars' "Grenade". One of the judges, Keshia Chanté, cried 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 continued to be selected onto its Top 6, singing pop songs such as Rihanna's "Only Girl (in the World)" and Maroon 5's "Payphone" among others. He also had his own single and music video entitled "Gotta Give A Little Extra",as well as two other singles, "Now" and "Oh Oh Santa"  with the other five finalists. Ultimately, he lost to the 14-year-old Brooklyn Roebuck, after singing his own single during the finals. He was the youngest finalist in the history of the show to be included in the Top 6.

In 2013, Espanto had his first series as a guest in YTV's Life with Boys.

2014–present: The Voice Kids]
During ABS-CBN's The Voice Kids Season 1 auditions aired on June 1, 2014, Espanto performed Jessie J's "Domino", which he formerly sang during The Next Star at age 11. 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'. Although Espanto revealed that he was Manalac's front act during one of his concerts in Canada, he still picked Geronimo stating that she could help him a lot in the music industry.

Espanto eventually advanced to the finals after singing Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time" during the live semi-finals held at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila. He was the second one to receive the highest votes, after Lyca Gairanod.Salonga, one of the coaches commented that Espanto is a phenomenal while his mentor Geronimo stated that he was 'a winner and a complete package'.

In the finale during the first round which was a power ballad theme, Espanto performed Basil Valdez's song "Ngayon" which received a standing ovation including the three coaches. Salonga left a warning to older performers; "To every person Darren idolized, this is a warning to all of you: this kid will outshine you someday".Once again, Geronimo praised him and said that despite his talent, Espanto never showed superiority and instead, listened to his coach. 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, which received a standing ovation. At the end of the competition, he once again came in second after Lyca Gairanod.

According to The Filipino Journal, an Edmontonian follower of the show Brenda Kaminsky believed that Espanto should have won the prize based on technicalities: "both Darren and Lyca are winners, the former deserved the trophy and the latter, deserved the prizes." In an interview with pep.ph, Manalac stated: "If you ask me, I said that on Twitter myself, who was the most consistent singer in the whole thing and who got my top vote... If I had the choice, it would have been Darren, he wasn’t from my team." He also added, "I would have gone for him, that would have been my choice I just thought he deserved it, on that level, on performance level.

On July 31, 2014, in an interview with ABS-CBN News' MJ Felipe, Espanto said that he will not go back to Canada, Alberta to pursue his showbiz career in the Philippines, while his parents will go back to Canada temporarily due to work. In a separate interview with entertainment site Push, Espanto said he also wants to try acting and do a project with his coach and mentor, Sarah Geronimo. In August, Espanto officially became a part of ABS-CBN's training and management center Star Magic.

On September 11, 2014, 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. His two covers surpassed foreign acts in the chart such as Taylor Swift, John Legend, The Script and Adam Levine. In his past interviews, Espanto said it is his dream to make it big in the music industry and he is grateful that a lot of doors have opened for him after “The Voice Kids”.

 

 

Darren Espanto (born May 24, 2001) is a Filipino Canadian singer. Born in Calgary, Canada to Filipino parents. At ten years old, he won the Masters Finals of Pinoy Singing Sensation in Edmonton.

He made his first television appearance at the age of ten when he joined YTV's reality television The Next Star in 2012, he became the youngest finalist in the history of the show to be included in the Top 6. In 2014, he flew back to his parent's homeland in the Philippines and auditioned for ABS-CBN's reality singing competition The Voice Kids. In July 2014 he finished as the runner-up. In August 2014, Espanto became part of ABS-CBN's Star Magic.