MANILA, Philippines – Darren Espanto has been wowing his Filipino fans since he won first runner-up in The Voice Kids Philippines season 1, but in the past few months, the singer has been grabbing the attention of international artists, too. (READ: Lea Salonga on Darren Espanto: He should have won ‘The Voice Kids’)
On Friday, January 29, American Idol season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino praised Darren's cover of her song "I Believe." On Twitter, she said, "This is beautiful... your voice will touch so many people."
{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">@Espanto2001_ This is beautiful.. your voice will touch so many people. <a href="https://t.co/bKgHPbPVVY">https://t.co/bKgHPbPVVY</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Wish1075">@Wish1075</a></p>— Fantasia Barrino (@TasiasWord) <a href="https://twitter.com/TasiasWord/status/692756016786771968">January 28, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Darren covered "I Believe" on Wish 107.5, a mobile radio station that goes around Metro Manila.
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Aside from the time he covered Fantasia's song, Darren was also on the Wish 107.5 bus in August 2015. That time, he covered Sia's "Chandelier."
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That performance caught Nicki Minaj and Ashton Kutcher's attention. Darren posted a screengrab of one of Ashton's posts, where the actor said he was "blown away" by Darren.
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="6" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/95qkShC8OJ/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?! This is crazy! Thanks so much Sir @aplusk!</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Darren Espanto (@darrenespanto1) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-11-10T10:30:44+00:00">Nov 10, 2015 at 2:30am PST</time></p></div></blockquote>
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Darren also posted a screengrab of Nicki's praise on his Instagram account. Nicki said: "So effortless. Incredible voice!"
{source}<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="6" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/-HGZf8C8AH/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">WOOOOAAAAH! BRUUUUUUUUHHH! THANK YOU SO MUCH QUEEN @NICKIMINAJ!</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Darren Espanto (@darrenespanto1) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-11-15T15:44:03+00:00">Nov 15, 2015 at 7:44am PST</time></p></div></blockquote>
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Both artists found Darren's video through the site A Plus, which Ashton co-founded.
In December 2015, singer Jessie J personally told Darren she liked his "Chandelier" cover when she was in Manila for a concert. Darren shared his conversation with the singer on Instagram. "'I watched your cover of Chandelier! It was amazing!'" Darren remembered Jessie saying. (IN PHOTOS: Jessie J in free concert for PH fans)
{source}<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="6" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:33.287037037% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/_GxcBHi8GV/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">I...AM...SPEECHLESS! Jessie: Hi! I watched your cover of Chandelier! It was amazing! Me: Oh thank you! I actually sang "Domino" at the blind auditions during The Voice! Jessie: Oh really! How was the show? Did you like it? Me: It was an amazing experience! (there was a lot more stuff but I was just starstruck)</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Darren Espanto (@darrenespanto1) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-12-10T09:12:17+00:00">Dec 10, 2015 at 1:12am PST</time></p></div></blockquote>
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Are you a Darren Espanto fan like these stars? What do you think of his covers of "Chandelier" and "I Believe?" Let us know in the comments!– Rappler.com