Known as: Sam Concepcion
Born: October 17, 1992
Hometown: Manila, Philippines
Genres: Pop, P-pop, R&B
Occupations: Singer, Dancer, Actor, Host, Model
Sam Concepcion (born Samuel Lawrence Lopez Concepcion on October 17, 1992 in Manila, Philippines), is a Filipino singer, dancer, actor, host and model. He emerged as the winner for the Big Division of Little Big Star’s Season 1 last April 2006. He is under STAGES and ABS-CBN’s Star Magic.
Concepcion was born on October 17, 1992 to Raymund Concepcion and Gene Concepcion. He is the third of four children and siblings to Kuya Red (24), Diko Kevin (23) and as Sangko Sam to their baby sister, Gabby (13).
Concepcion is a born again Christian and finished grade school at Christian Academy of Manila. He is currently home-schooled under the International Studies program.
Early days
As early as two years old, Concepcion was already able to carry a tune and dance to simple songs. At five years old, he had his first public performance at a worship cantata. This later landed him the role of the young Jose Rizal in a play entitled, Sino Ka Ba, Jose Rizal. While playing the part, he was discovered by David Cosico, who then encouraged Concepcion to sign up with STAGES and join Trumpets Playshop to further hone his talents and potential. By the time he was nine years of age, Concepcion already had various plays under his name. This included the role of Edmund Pevensie in the local stage adaptation of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
Prior to joining Little Big Star, Concepcion had appeared on television as well. This included a commercial with his real-life dad as the rapping kid in Maggi Sinigang sa Miso. He also appeared on various shows for children, such as Sineskwela and Hirayamanawari. Concepcion even had a regular hosting stint on ABC-5’s A.S.T.I.G. (All Set To Imitate God), a show about God made for children. But while making television appearances, Concepcion continuously performed in theater productions, including ‘Peter Pan and the Time Machine and Mr. Noah’s Big Boat.
Concepcion’s musical influences include Gary Valenciano, Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown, Billy Crawford and Christian Bautista. In fact, Concepcion was even invited to guest in two of Christian Bautista’s concerts namely, Dunkin Donuts: Color Everywhere on March 2005 and Heartfelt on November 2005.
Concepcion’s major television exposure came via Little Big Star, a singing competition on ABS-CBN, which searched for young talents. He was initially dubbed as the Singing Crush ng Bayan throughout the duration of show as he became the crowd’s favorite. In fact, he was awarded the My Favorite Star Award for having the most number of votes from viewers, garnering 52% of the total votes. Then on the Grand Finals, Concepcion sang I Can’t Stand Still from Footloose, one of STAGES’ musical productions. He eventually won the whole competition with the title, The Brightest Star for the Big Division over equally talented kids, Gian Barbarona and Charice Pempengco.
In addition, through this competition, Concepcion’s fan base, collectively called the Samsters, was formed.
Just before winning the title in Little Big Star, Concepcion was offered endorsements and projects already. His first endorsement came from Bench, a local clothing line in the country. With regard to projects, Concepcion took part in ABS-CBN’s primetime shows. First was his stint in the drama series, Mga Anghel na Walang Langit, where he played Gary. However, his first major role was in the fantasy series, Super Inggo. He portrayed Boy Bawang, the son of Kumander Bawang and Super Inggo’s model superhero.
Then right after his win, Concepcion joined ASAP ’06 where he became part of the group, Three-O, with Aldred Gatchalian and Aaron Agassi. The group was later disbanded when Agassi decided to leave. He was also given his first starring role when he was featured on Your Song with Empress Schuck as part of their Christmas offering. The same Your Song episode was again shown the following year.
On June 2006, Concepcion, along with other Trumpets Playshop kids, was tasked by the Philippine Department of Tourism to represent the country for the Korea World Travel Fair. They brought home the Best Folk Performance Award. That same month, Concepcion was also chosen by the Philippine government to sing in front of the President of the Philippines and top world economic leaders during APEC’s Business Advisory Council Gala Opening. The following month, July 2006, he won Nickelodeon’s Pinoy Wannabe award with 40% of the total votes. This win made him the youngest and sole male recipient of the award.
Then on the September 2006 issue of Candy magazine, Concepcion posed as the magazine’s cover for the first time. On that same issue, he was also announced as the top Candy Cutie for the year. He has held the title for three consecutive years already that no other local celebrity has held since.
By October 2006, Sam had his first concert via a back-to-back birthday celebration with Christian Bautista.
After Super Inggo, Concepcion’s next major television project was Walang Kapalit. He played the young Noel, who was latter portrayed by Piolo Pascual. Concepcion also got to dub for the local anime network, Hero TV, as the voice of Koyuki, the protagonist of the Japanese musical anime, Beck.
On June 2007, Concepcion went back to theater when he played Troy Bolton in Disney’s High School Musical on Stage. The whole production reaped critical success that the musical was extended for two more weeks.
By September 2007, Concepcion launched his first solo album under Universal Records. His carrier single was Even If, a 2Be3 original. Subsequently, he released two other singles namely, Happy and I’ll Find Your Heart. His album launch was then followed by a nationwide mall tour.
That same month, Concepcion was appointed by the Philippine Department of Education as the Youth Role Model and Spokesperson. Being its Ambassador for Education, Concepcion was tasked onto a nationwide school tour, dubbed as, SAMa-SAMa sa Eskwela, that aimed to encourage students across the country to prioritize their education while reaching for their aspirations.
On February 2008, Concepcion became part of ABS-CBN’s Star Magic, with a co-management contract with STAGES. He was launched as their newest talent on ASAP ’08. Then on that same month, Sam was also appointed by the Business Software Alliance as the Official Spokesperson of the Philippines for B4USurf, an Asian-wide campaign that aimed to promote safe internet use. In addition, Concepcion is still the Youth Ambassador for Education and the Arts in the 3rd District of Manila.
Concepcion later on won "Favorite New Artist" in the 3rd MYX Music Awards on March 2008. This win made him the youngest winner for the said category as he garnered 61% of the total votes.
Then on May 2008, Concepcion was chosen by Dreamworks to sing the theme song of the animated movie, Kung Fu Panda, entitled, Kung Fu Fighting. His version of "Kung Fu Fighting" was included in the Asian soundtrack album. The same album also included the cover of Korean celebrity, Rain. With this project, Concepcion is the first Filipino artist to have collaborated with Dreamworks.
By August 2008, Concepcion returned to doing regular television shows. One was I ♥ Betty La Fea. He played the character of Andrew, Betty’s younger brother who wanted to become a celebrity for his family’s sake. The series lasted three seasons and ended on April 24, 2009. The other was Lipgloss on TV5, where he played Kyle, the show’s main protagonist. He left the show mid of season two.
Concepcion also staged his first major solo concert dubbed as I’ll Find Your Heart. The concert was held at the Music Museum on October 2008. On that same month, Concepcion was also launched as the Ambassador for Children for World Vision. As its Ambassador, he encouraged Filipinos to help send the less-fortunate children to school.
Later in the year, Concepcion also held a free Christmas concert sponsored by Dunkin Donuts at the CCP open grounds.
As of this year, Concepcion has been the endorser for various local products. Bench, Skechers, Karate Kid Restaurant, Smart and Tang Fruit Teaz are some of the companies that trusted him to endorse their products. In fact, Karate Kid, which already expanded in different branches nationwide, contracted Concepcion as the company’s first and sole celebrity endorser. In addition, Concepcion continues all of his responsibilities as ambassadors for his respective causes.
On May 2009, Concepcion held another major concert entitled, I’ll Find Your Heart: Part 2, to help raise funds for Aim Christian Learning Center. The concert was held at Crossroads77 Convenarium in Quezon City. Concepcion then went on to win the Top Teen Male Entertainer award in the first Pure & Fresh Top Teens Awards, which was held on that same month.
Concepcion also played the character of Bobet, the optimist of the group, in Your Song Presents: Boystown, which ended last June 2009. Soon after, Concepcion, together with 40 Star Magic artists, flew in to the United States for the Star Magic World Concert Tour. The tour was held in 2 cities namely, Ontario and San Francisco. Due to the abrupt passing ofMichael Jackson, the artists prepared a tribute, in which Concepcion carried the role of the King of Pop with his trademark moves and singing.
Then on August 2009, Concepcion was recently awarded by the United Nations Youth Association of the Philippines the prestigious UNAP Outstanding Youth Leader award for his positive achievements in the Entertainment category. The awards night was held last August 7 at the Malacanang Palace with President Gloria Arroyo as its guest of honor.
September 2009 marked Concepcion’s return to theater after his last musical back in 2007. He was casted as the Narrator, who also doubles as God, in N.O.A.H. [No Ordinary Aquatic Habitat] The cast of N.O.A.H. includes: Carlo Orosa, Sheila Francisco, the three young talented Sison brothers, Fred Lo, Ikey Canoy, Steven Conde, Kevin Concepcion, Tracy Santuyo, JC Gontinga, Jamie Avancena, Alys Serdena, Athena Tibi, Rizza Ribo, Carlo Canlas, Joms Ortega, Jennifer Villegas, Chris Nocon, and Carl Alexander Acosta. By October 2009, Concepcion was hailed Candy’s Top Celeb Cutie for the fourth consecutive time. This award was followed by another award on November 2009. He was hailed by the Consumers League of the Philippines Foundation the Dangal ng Pilipinas for Best Promising Male Young Singer Performer award.
Besides all his TV appearances and various shows off-camera, Concepcion also recorded for his second solo album, which is set to be released early next year under Universal Records. Concepcion regularly appeared on ASAP ’09 through a dance segment with the Gigger Boys, ABS-CBN’s all-male teen dance group.
This year started with the restaging of N.O.A.H. [No Ordinary Aquatic Habitat], which was postponed due to Typhoon Ondoy back in September 2009. With its return, Concepcion still played the role of The Narrator/God for all show times. Concepcion was also chosen to portray the role of the young Noynoy Aquino. The story revolved around the untold love story of the country’s historic icons, Ninoy Aquino and Cory Aquino, on Maalaala Mo Kaya.
Currently, Concepcion still regularly appears with the Gigger Boys on ASAP XV (formerly called ASAP ’09). But for this year, Concepcion joins another group called, A-Pop. They are the newest sing-and-dance boy group composed of Young JV, Jaco Benin, Nel Gomez and of course, Concepcion himself. Their debut performance was on January 10 of this year. But due to positive feedbacks, they were officially launched 2 weeks after. During the launch, Concepcion was given the tag, Ultimate Teen Pop Idol. JV, Benin and Gomez are all 19 years old, while Concepcion is the youngest at 17.
More importantly, Concepcion just released his second solo album this January 2010 entitled, "Pop Class." The concept of this album is different than the first one as this features a mini-musical movie cum album. The album’s carrier single is an original song entitled, "Missed You." The album was officially launched on ASAP XV on the 28th of February. Along with the launch is the awarding of Sam’s self-titled debut album with a Gold Record Award.
Sam also played a lead role on one of the series of C.I.N.C.O. a movie by Star Cinema together with Robi Domingo and AJ Perez.
He also joined the Bench Uncut Fashion Show 2010 and was the youngest of all the stars and models there.
He also hosted a teen show called "SHOUTOUT" with the new rising teens. Ang now April 2011 he is one of the cast of the teen oriented show "GOOD VIBES" as Marc Pedroza.
