MANILA, Philippines – Gwyn Dorado is no stranger to big stages. 

She was just a 10-year-old student when she joined Asia’s Got Talent in 2015. Back then, she breezed through her audition with ease, effortlessly belting out her own rendition of Katy Perry’s “Roar” with a large guitar in tow. 

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She would continue to impress both the judges and audience with her high-note-laden performances until she eventually finished the prestigious talent show as a finalist. 

It came as no surprise, then, when she re-entered the spotlight as “Dorado” in a totally new arena — South Korea’s Sing Again 4 — and managed to become the lone foreigner to make it to the show’s finals.

She even pulled off a second-place finish on the show, defeating two other Korean contestants to claim her spot. It was a historic run for Dorado, and it’s one that will be remembered for putting Filipino talent on the map yet again. 

A new arena

A recording artist for years already at this point, Dorado began her activities in South Korea in 2024 when she signed under the agency AO Entertainment, and from there, started singing the OSTs of several shows. 

It was finally time for her to be discovered by a bigger audience. Then came Sing Again 4, the South Korean music show dedicated to giving rising, lesser-known, and undiscovered artists, soloists, and band members another shot at landing under the spotlight. 

On the show, Dorado was a clear frontrunner from the start, delivering a consistent stellar performance and receiving high praise from well-known judges such as Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon, Super Junior’s Kyuhyun, Davichi’s Lee Hae-ri, Code Kunst, Yoon Jong-shin, Lim Jae-beom, Baek Ji-young, and Kim Eana. 

But before Dorado began to showcase her vocal prowess, one of the first things you would notice about her was her Korean speech. Dorado had learned the language until she spoke it fluently, allowing her to communicate with the producers and coaches with ease. 

It was an early indication of her drive to succeed no matter what — and she did so, in a country that wasn’t her own, to boot.  

When the show began, contestants were tasked to join groups that captured their circumstances, such as less popular singers who have already had a career for a while, one-hit wonders, and contestants from previous seasons, among others. Dorado was placed under the “Audition Expert” group, which consisted of artists who succeeded in past talent shows but are not yet well-known. 

The 21-year-old singer auditioned for the show with a chilling rendition of the classic Korean ballad, “As Time Goes By,” earning passes from all eight judges to quickly advance to the next round. 

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Excellence no matter what

Dorado excelled both on her own and with a partner. In episodes four and five, she was paired with Pink Fantasy’s Kim Ye-chan, with whom she sang Park Jung-woon’s “On a Night Like Tonight.” The pair received four “Again” button presses, allowing them to continue their journeys on the show. 

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In episodes six and seven, Dorado then went head-to-head with independent artist Sanha. The Filipina won the 1v1 battle with her performance of “One Late Night in 1994” by Jang Hye-jin after five out of eight judges voted in her favor. 

Sanha, however, still moved on to the next round after she received an additional pass. 

When it finally came time for the top 10 elimination round, Dorado proved that she rightfully earned her spot after all eight judges pressed their “Again” buttons after her cover of Yoon Jong-shin’s “Rebirth.”

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In the top 7 elimination, Dorado then got six out of eight “Again” button presses with her version of Roy Kim’s “Only Then.”

Perhaps Dorado’s most iconic performance, though, was when she sang “I Want You” — an original song Kim Do-hun produced for her. Not only did she pass this round, but she did so with flying colors, earning a score of 981, the highest score ever achieved by a contestant all season. 

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Road to a strong finish

Heading into the finals, Dorado was now the lone foreign contestant in the top 4. 

She already presented a strong showing in the first of her two final performances, singing Exhibition’s “Etude of Memory,” and earning 781 points — putting her in first place. 

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She followed this up with “Light Up,” produced by GroovyRoom, earning a near-perfect score of 799.  

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The final rankings, however, were determined after calculating each contestant’s early online voting scores (10%), the streams their new songs received on Melon and Genie (20%), the judges’ final performance scores (30%), and live voting (40%). 

It was male singer Lee Oh-wook who eventually took the crown with a total of 1,415.30 points, with Dorado claiming second place with 1,409.54 points. 

Kim Jae-min and Slowly ranked third and fourth, respectively. 

Dorado put up a good fight until the very end. As a prize, she gets to take home 30 million Korean won (around P1,232,459.69) to support her career and the activities she’ll be doing after the show. 

Clearly, Dorado’s Sing Again 4 stint signals an exciting new beginning for the young singer. While she has yet to share her plans moving forward, Filipinos’ celebration of her talent shows that no matter what path she chooses to take, she’s already made the Philippines proud. – Rappler.com