Stars who were products of Singing Competitions (Part 1 of 4)

Last Sunday, I had a blast from the past searching on YouTube for celebrities who were products of popular singing competitions. The likes of Charice, Brenan, Gian, Jay, Sheryn and Christian didn't actually win the grand prize from their respective competitions, but they also rose to popularity alongside with those who won.

How I wish they will have one big concert together

Most of these stars came from humble beginnings. They frequently joined small town amateur singing contests to help their family.

Enjoy reading the short stories of the rise to fame of today’s most popular singers who were products of talent searches. I'm presenting it in a 4 parts series - there are 20 of them in total. I know there are lots more (like Julie Ann San Jose, Sam Concepcion, Makisig Morales, Frenchie Dy, Jed Madela, Jerome Sala, Marinel Santos, Maricris Garcia, Aicelle Santos, Mau Marcelo, Nikki Bacolod, etc.) but these 20 are on the top of the list of my most admired singers.

1. Angeline Quinto is a Filipino singer, born on November 26, 1989 in Sampaloc, Manila, was the first grand winner of Star Power: Search for the Next Female Pop Superstar in 2011. Her biological mother tried to abort Angeline but her grandmother stopped it, and Angeline was raised by her grandmother.

Angeline Quinto - Champion - 2011
Star Power: Search for the Next
Female Pop Superstar

She participated in several singing competitions in her town, but lost most of them. Despite her failures, her distance from her mother and abandonment by her father for another family, she still pursued her dreams and continued to compete in singing competitions. She would even sneak out of the house to join competitions. Then came a night of a very special night where she won 3 different competitions in just one night. Her grand mother was so proud when she won Php7,000 (US$165) and she even cooked a delicious dinner for her grandmother.

Angeline Quinto has cited various artists as influences to her musical style. She grew up listening to songs of Regine Velasquez and says she is the main reason she does music. Quinto credits Velasquez's singing and her song "What Kind Of Fool Am I" as influencing her to begin practicing vocal "runs" as a child, as well as helping her pursue a career as a musician. Quinto also cites influences from American artists such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Beyonce Knowles.

In 2002, Angeline joined a prestigious singing competition on IBC 13 called, Star for a Night. She was then joined by, now Sarah Geronimo and Mark Bautista. In 2004, Angeline was a finalist in MTB Teen Popstar when she tied with Sherilyn Flores for the title and where she competed with Jonalyn Viray.

In 2010, she joined a now defunct variety show, Diz Iz It, and became a wildcard finalist.

In 2011, Angeline also joined a prestigious singing competition of ABS-CBN, Star Power: Sharon's Search for the next Female Pop Superstar where she emerged as a winner and now the title as First female Pop Superstar for gaining a combined score from judges, online voting and text of 90.88%.

The final showdown of the competition was held at the Ynares Sports Arena in Antipolo, Rizal. Quinto also triumph one million cash, a car, and an entertainment showcase from Sony Philippines, diamond jewelry from JMK Jewelry and an exclusive recording contract from Star Records.

She has released her debut/self-titled album under Star Records, Angeline Quinto. The album has 14 tracks including the original, alternate, radio, extended remix and minus-one versions of "Patuloy Ang Pangarap", her winning contest piece in the 1st Search for the Next Female Pop Superstar.” Her debut album tops the list of selling albums for both local and foreign artists. It is considered the best-selling album of the first quarter of 2011.

After a weeks her debut album received a gold certification from PARI. On July 15, 2011 Angeline Quinto staged her first solo concert. She also toured and opened for Sharon Cuneta in her United States concert tour. She has sung several soundtracks for ABS-CBN television dramas and films. She is currently a performer on ASAP Rocks. Her album received a platinum certification from PARI.

She is planning to release her second album this March 2012 and may feature duets with Regine Velasquez and Ogie Alcacid. She is currently finishing her first movie entitled You Light Up My Life with Coco Martin.


2. Brenan Espartinez. Born on February 18, 1986. Brenan is a third-year college student at UST. He digs Rhythm and Blues an just like his multi-talented idols Usher and Justin Timberlake, he's a good dancer as well. One of the judges comments about him is that he knows how to add color and emotion to the song.

Brenan Espartinez - 1st Runner Up - Pinoy
Pop Superstar (Year 1) 2005 

Brenan is one of the kid casts in the educational TV show Sineskwela. At age 15, he auditioned for Ryan Cayabyab who is in search of new singing talents. He passed the audition and became part of a band named Kaya, a pop sensation group of 4 singers including him and 3 girls handled by Ryan Cayabyab, Rudy Tee and Boy Abunda. Though their band didn't shine that much, Brenan still finds his way to become a singer and that is how he got in Pinoy Pop Superstar Season 1 and placed 1st runner-up. 

From 2006-2010 he was a regular singer in SOP Rules and from 2010 to present in Party Pilipinas.

Brenan Espartinez just released his self-titled album, Brenan under Bellhaus Entertainment Inc. “It talks about a man’s point of view about love, getting hurt and moving on,” Brenan said. It features 8 tracks including a revival of the Side A love song “Forevermore” and his first carrier single, “Di Nagpaalam.”

Charice Pempengco - 3rd Place
Little Big Star 2005

3. Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco (born May 10, 1992), popularly known by the mononym Charice, is a Filipina singer and actress who rose to popularity through YouTube. Dubbed by Oprah Winfrey as the Most Talented Girl in the World, she released her first international studio album Charice in 2010. The album entered the Billboard at number-eight, making Charice the first Southeast Asian solo singer in history to land in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart.

She released the single "Pyramid" which featured singer Iyaz. It is her most successful single to-date, charting within the top 40 in a number of countries, and debuting on The Oprah Winfrey Show where she sang live vocals. Crossing over to acting on television, she joined the cast of TV series Glee as Sunshine Corazon. She has released a new lead single, "Before It Explodes", written by Bruno Mars, from her international sophomore studio album, Infinity.

In March 2012, she was announced as one of the four celebrity judges of the The X Factor Philippines which will air on ABS-CBN by the 2nd quarter of 2012.

Pempengco was born in Laguna, Philippines. Charice was raised by her single mother, Raquel. To help support her family she began to enter singing contests at age seven, from town fiestas in various provinces to singing competitions on TV. She is said to have competed in almost a hundred such contests.

In 2005 Charice joined Little Big Star, a talent show in the Philippines loosely patterned after American Idol. Eliminated after her first performance, she was called back as a wildcard contender and eventually became one of the finalists. Although she was a consistent top scorer in the final rounds, she did not win the title in the finale and only placed third.

Charice made minor appearances on local television shows and commercials, but essentially fell off the radar after her stint at Little Big Star. It was not until 2007 that she gained worldwide recognition after an avid supporter, Dave Dueñas, under the username FalseVoice, started posting a series of her performance videos on YouTube. These videos received over 15 million hits.

Christian Bautista - 4th Place Star
In a Million 2003

4. Christian Joseph Morata Bautista (born October 19, 1981), more popularly known by his screen name Christian Bautista, is a Filipino singer, actor, host, and model. He was a finalist of Star In A Million, a Philippine reality show aired on ABS-CBN channel, winning the 4th place in the competition in 2003.

After the contest, he signed a recording contract with Warner Music Philippines and released his self-titled debut album, Christian Bautista. The multi-platinum album established his name as an OPM artist with songs such as "The Way You Look At Me", "Colour Everywhere" and "Hands To Heaven" topping the charts. The singer gained popularity not only in the Philippines but in other countries in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. He regularly appears in ABS-CBN's variety show ASAP Rocks.

Last year Christian finished "The Kitchen Musical" with fellow Stages talent, Karylle, and other Filipino talents in Singapore.

Erik Santos - Champion
Star In A Million 2003

5. Rhoderick Ramos Santos (born October 10, 1982), more commonly known as simply Erik Santos, is a Filipino singer, actor, TV host, commercial model, and the winner of the ABS-CBN program Star In A Million Season 1 in January 2004.

Santos was born on October 10, 1982 in Malabon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. When he was four, his passion for singing started. He participated in numerous small-town singing competitions. He graduated in high school at Immaculate Conception Parochial School - Malabon He studied at the Centro Escolar University and took up dentistry, but later shifted to Psychology. As soon as he won the singing competition Star in a Million in 2003, he temporarily stopped studying, because of his busy schedule. Eventually, he came back to school and finished college. He graduated in March 2010.

In 2003, Santos joined Star In A Million singing contest, and became part of the wildcard entry to the Final 10 of the show. He had a good start in the competition, but got eliminated during the third week of the show, when it was still a part of the Sunday noontime variety show ASAP. Nevertheless, his second chance came, and his rendition of R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly", won him the tenth and final slot for the semi-finals round. Eventually he became one of the three grand finalists along with Sheryn Regis (first runner up) and Marinel Santos (2nd runner up) in the showdown for the title of Star in a Million. "This is the Moment", a song from the musical Jekyll and Hyde, won him the title.

Francheska Farr - Female Champion
Are You The Next Big Star? 2009

6. Marie Frencheska Mae Tobias Farr (born September 9, 1992) is a Filipina singer, model and actress. She was the Are You the Next Big Star? grand champion along with Geoff Taylor.

Farr was born in Las Piñas City, Philippines. She graduated from St. Paul College of Parañaque. Farr is currently taking up Culinary Arts at De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde. Her father is of British descent. She was named the Next Female Big Star along with Geoff Taylor as the Next Male Big Star on the television show "Are You the Next Big Star?". Along with winning the contest, they each received one million pesos (P1,000,000), a condominium unit from Avida, a management contract from GMA Artist Center and a recording contract from GMA Records. After winning Are You the Next Big Star?, she started in various television guestings and shows. She guested at the christmaserye of GMA Network, Sana Ngayong Pasko. She was also included in the defunct SOP. She also became a part of the BandaOke wherein she was included in the BandaOke band along with her co-Are You the Next Big Star? batchmates, Geoff Taylor and Jay Perillo. In movie industry, Farr bested other actresses as she wins the lead role in the Filipino musical movie, Emir. Farr is currently seen in the new musical variety show of GMA Network, Party Pilipinas.