Before her runner-up finish on South Korea’s “Sing Again 4,” Gwyn Dorado had long been deeply rooted in music. Singing was a constant in her life from an early age, shaped by musical theater and further refined through her education in the Music, Arts, and Design strand at UST Senior High School (SHS).
Yet her life story — growing up in Singapore and spending seven years as a Thomasian — mirrors none of the neat structures of the songs she writes and performs. Instead, it has been defined by spontaneity and unpredictability, elements Dorado believes molded her artistic identity.
“Ever since I was a kid, we kept on moving places,” she told the Varsitarian. “It was hard to adjust, pero I guess, it helped me shape my artistic personality, because it helped me adapt fast.”
Her first major moment in the public eye came when she was just 10 years old, after joining the inaugural season of “Asia’s Got Talent” in 2015. Her take on Katy Perry’s “Roar” carried her all the way to the finals, alongside fellow Filipino performers: singer Gerphil-Geraldine Flores, dance group Junior New System, and eventual winner El Gamma Penumbra, the shadow play troupe from Batangas.
Dorado’s creative roots also deepened through musical theater, where she played Luisa von Trapp in “The Sound of Music” and appeared as one of the orphans in “Annie the Musical.” Performing on stage, she said, taught her that singing extends far beyond technical precision.
“Sa musical, natutuhan kong hindi lang kumanta because of the notes, kundi to sing, to tell a story,” Dorado said.
Juggling academics with rehearsals eventually pushed her toward homeschooling, a shift that demanded strict self-discipline and careful time management.
Even so, Dorado considers UST — where she completed high school and spent a semester at the Faculty of Arts and Letters — the most grounding presence in a life marked by constant movement.
That discipline proved vital when she stepped into South Korea’s famously “Spartan” music industry, known for its demanding rehearsals and uncompromising performance standards.
In 2024, Dorado debuted as a solo artist in the Philippines with “Tulala,” an original song written during the Covid-19 pandemic. Later that year, she signed with South Korean agency A.O. Entertainment, which also manages K-pop girl group PRIMROSE.
Her track “What If” was later selected as an original soundtrack for “ToGetHer,” South Korea’s first sapphic dating show, expanding her reach to a wider global audience.
Dorado eventually returned to competition as Singer No. 59 on “Sing Again 4,” a South Korean survival show judged by artists such as Super Junior’s Kyuhyun and Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon.
Out of 81 contestants, she stood out as the only foreign singer to advance to the finals, earning praise not just for her vocal technique but also for her fluent Korean diction.
In the final round, Dorado delivered a performance of “Light Up,” receiving seven perfect scores and one 99 from the judges. She finished with 3,009.39 points, placing second overall on Jan. 6, while Lee Oh-wook claimed the top spot based on the final voting system.
Rather than dwelling on the title she narrowly missed, Dorado sees her “Sing Again” journey as both a personal milestone and a meaningful step forward for Filipino artists on the international stage.
“I’m really happy with the judges’ points and the voting,” she said. “But more than that, I’m happy that I made friends, not just friends, but fans and family. I feel content.”
She also saw it as a lesson to get out of her comfort zone.
“[When you conquer] the uncomfortable moments, … then you can do whatever you want on stage. So, when you get out there sa battlefield, alam mo na,” she said.
Dorado and the rest of the competition’s top 10 finalists will head out on a nationwide concert tour across South Korea.
