Teenage singing sensation Darren Espanto leads 13 artists of MCA Music with a total of 21 nominations for this year’s Awit Awards.
Darren is nominated for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year (“Alam” by hitmaking composer Jungee Marcelo), Best Performance by a Male Recording Artist (“Alam”) and Best Collaboration (“I’ll Be There” with Jed Madela).
Darren previously won Best Performance by a New Male Recording Artist (“In Love Ako sa Yo”) and Best Album Package in the 2015 edition of the Awit Awards.
In an interview with InterAksyon last June, he acknowledged the role of his record label, MCA Music, also known as Universal Music Group, in his success.
“I am very happy with where I am now. I wouldn’t be here without Universal Music. When I was a child, I can only dream of what is happening now and now it’s a reality. I would just like to grow in this industry hope my career would just stay steady,” Darren noted.
Aside from Darren, the rising pop-rock group Autotelic was recognized by the Awit Awards with four nominations: Record of the Year and Best Performance by a New Group Recording Artist for “Laro,”; and Best Rock/Alternative Recording and Best Performance by a Group Recording Artist for “Gising.”
The six-piece band was influenced among others by dance music and Japanese pop culture.
Another rising indie rock group that’s getting some well-deserved recognition is MilesExperience, which is nominated in three categories — Best Performance by a New Group Recording Artist for “Silakbo,” Best Rock/ Alternative Recording and Best Performance by a Group Recording Artist for “Love Supreme.”
Gabby Alipe of the hard rock group Urbandub struck gold with a budding solo career and received two nominations: Best Performance by a Male Recording Artist and Best Rock/Alternative Recording, both for his song, “Visions.”
Filipino-American singer Kyle Echarri, another alumnus from “The Voice Kids,” got two nominations: Best Performance by a New Male Recording Artist and Best Ballad Recording, both for his swooning hit ballad, “Fall For Me.”
Likewise, receiving one nomination each were Jason Dy (Best R&B Recording for “Pano Na Lang”), Elha
Nympha (Best Performance by a Female Recording Artist for “Susunduin”), Juan Karlos Labajo (Best Pop Recording for “Sana Kung Pwede Lang”), Bassilyo (Best Novelty Recording for “Taxi Driver”), and Stick Figgas (Best Rap/ HipHop Recording for “Mukha Ng Pera”).
Created by The Philippine Association of the Record Industry, Inc. (PARI) and now on its 30th year, the Awit Awards celebrates the Filipino’s passion and love for music as it aims to recognize the best contributions to the music industry for the past year.
