Daniel Diges García (; born 17 January 1981) is a Spanish singer, pianist, composer and actor. Although born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

proper, he has spent all his youth in the neighbouring city of

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...

Life and career

Diges began his acting career in a theatre company, Teatro Escuela Libre de Alcalá de Henares (TELA), in his native city, and after starring in several TV adverts, he rose to fame in the teen drama television series ''

Nada es para siempre "Nada Es Para Siempre" () is a ballad written by Amaury Gutiérrez, produced by Sebastián Krys and performed by Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter Luis Fonsi. It was released as the first single from sixth studio album ''Paso a Paso'' (20 ...

'' (1999–2000), playing the character of "Gato". Over the years he has also hosted children shows like "Megatrix" (2001–2002) and ''Max Clan'' (2003–2004) and has appeared in several TV series playing secondary roles: ''

Hospital Central ''Hospital Central'' ("Central Hospital"; previously ''Línea Roja'') is a Spanish television series that follows the professional and personal lives of the staff of the fictitious Hospital Central in Madrid. New episodes are shown by Telecinco ...

'' (2002), ''Ana y los siete'' (2003), ''

Aquí no hay quien viva ''Aquí no hay quien viva'' (English: ''No One Could Live Here'') is a Spanish television comedy series focusing on the inhabitants of the fictional building at the address ''Desengaño 21'' in central Madrid. The series debuted on the Antena 3 ...

'' (2005) and ''Agitación +IVA'' (2005–2006).

2005-2010: Career in musical theatre

He debuted in big productions of

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

in 2005, playing the roles of Colate in ''En Tu Fiesta Me Colé'' and Mario in '' Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar''. In 2007 and 2008 he played the role of Galileo in the Spanish production of ''

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song by the British rock band Queen from their 1977 album '' News of the World'', written by guitarist Brian May. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of " The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and the RIAA it p ...

'', and he also starred in the Spanish stage adaptation of ''

High School Musical ''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American Musical film, musical television film produced by and aired on Disney Channel as part of the network's List of Disney Channel original films, slate of original television films. The first installmen ...

'' as Troy Bolton (2008–2009). In 2009 and early 2010, he played the role of Sky in the Spanish production of ''

Mamma Mia! Mamma mia (; an Italian interjection, literally "mommy mine"), Mammamia, Mamamia or Mumma Mia may refer to: Music Works associated with ABBA * "Mamma Mia" (ABBA song), a 1975 ABBA song * ''Mamma Mia!'' (musical), a stage play based on ABBA s ...

''.

2010: Eurovision and first album

On 22 February 2010, Diges won the Spanish national final, ''Eurovisión: Destino Oslo'' and was chosen to represent Spain in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2010 The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song "Fairytale (Alexander Rybak song), Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organise ...

with the song " Algo pequeñito", composed by Jesús Cañadilla and arranged and produced by Alejandro de Pinedo. In March 2010, following his election as the Spanish Eurovision entrant, Diges was signed to

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

with the idea of recording an album in the style of a Spanish

crooner A crooner is a singer who performs with a smooth, intimate style that originated in the 1920s. The crooning style was made possible by better microphones that picked up quieter sounds and a wider range of frequencies, allowing the singer to acce ...

. The album, self-titled ''Daniel Diges'' and produced by Óscar Gómez, was released on 18 May 2010. It includes mostly songs written by Diges himself, but also two versions of " Algo pequeñito" and Spanish versions of " Just the Way You Are" (

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

), "

Everything Everything, every-thing, or every thing, is all that exists; it is an antithesis of ''nothing'', or its complement. It is the totality of things relevant to some subject matter. Without expressed or implied limits, it may refer to . The uni ...

" (

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Regarded as a pop icon, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American ...

) and "

Angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

" (

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

). On 29 May 2010 in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, during his scheduled performance in the Eurovision final, his routine was interrupted by famous stage invader

Jimmy Jump Jaume Marquet i Cot (), more popularly known as Jimmy Jump (born 14 March 1976), is a streaker from Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain, known for interfering in several major entertainment and sporting events. Incidents Football On 4 July 2004, durin ...

, so according to the rules he was given the chance to perform again after all the other countries had performed. Diges finished on 15th position out of 25 entries.

2010-2012: ''Los Miserables'' and ''Póker de Voces''

After Eurovision, he was signed to play the role of revolutionary leader

Enjolras Enjolras () is a fictional character who acts as the charismatic leader of the Friends of the ABC in the 1862 novel ''Les Misérables'' by Victor Hugo. In both the novel and the musical that it inspired, Enjolras is a revolutionary who fights f ...

in the Spanish production of 25th anniversary edition of ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'', that was staged at Teatro Lope de Vega in

(season 2010-2011) and at Barcelona Teatre Musical in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

(season 2011-2012)". In 2011, together with fellow male cast members of ''Los Miserables'' David Ordinas, Gerónimo Rauch and Ignasi Vidal, he created, produced and starred in the concert show ''Póker de Voces''. On 18 July 2011 Gerónimo Rauch was replaced by Pablo Puyol and on 3 June 2012 Ignasi Vidal was replaced by Paco Arrojo. The last concert of ''Póker de Voces'' was held in

Xàtiva Xàtiva (; ) is a town in eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia, on the right (western) bank of the river Albaida and at the junction of the Valencia, Spain, Valencia–Murcia and Valencia Albacete railways. It is located 25 km ...

on 21 July 2012.

2012-2013: Second album, ''La Bella y la Bestia'', and ''Tu cara me suena''

His second studio album, released on 31 January 2012, was titled ''¿Dónde estabas tú en los 70?'' and consists of covers of famous hits from the 1970s like "

Eres tú "Eres tú" (; "It's You") is a song recorded by Spanish band Mocedades, written by Juan Carlos Calderón. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 held in Luxembourg placing second which was followed by a global success. It is one of the few ...

". Diges played the role of

Gaston Gaston is a masculine given name of French origin and a surname. The name "Gaston" may refer to: People First name *Gaston I, Count of Foix (1287–1315) * Gaston II, Count of Foix (1308–1343) *Gaston III, Count of Foix (1331–1391) *Gaston ...

in the national tour of ''La Bella y la Bestia'' (''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'') which opened in September 2012 in

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

to visit 17 Spanish cities. On 27 August 2012, Diges was announced to join the cast of the second season of television show '' Tu cara me suena'' on Antena 3, in which celebrity contestants impersonate a different famous singer on stage in each episode. In the season finale that took place on 11 February 2013, he finished as the runner-up.

2013-2015: ''Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar'', ''Quiero'' and ''Los Miserables'' national tour

On 11 June 2013, Diges was announced to play the lead role (Mario) in the Madrid revival of '' Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar'', which opened on 12 September 2013 at the Teatro Coliseum. On 29 April 2014, Diges released his third studio album, titled ''Quiero''. Its promotional single was "Te llevas mi amor". In September 2014, Diges was announced to join ''Los Miserables'' again, on national tour, this time to lead as

Jean Valjean Jean Valjean () is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. The story depicts the character's struggle to lead a normal life and redeem himself after serving a 19-year-long prison sentence for stealing bread to feed his ...

. In January 2015, Diges re-united with David Ordinas, Ignasi Vidal and Pablo Puyol for ''Póker de Vocess new concert show. On 5 May 2015, Diges released the single "Te veo", composed by

Ruth Lorenzo Ruth Lorenzo Pascual (; born 10 November 1982) is a Spanish singer, composer and television personality, best known in the UK for been the eighth contestant eliminated in the fifth series of the British TV talent show ''The X Factor'' in 2008. ...

and Jacobo Calderón.

2015-2019: ''Calle Broadway'', ''Les Misérables Brasil'' and ''Les Misérables Mexico''

On 27 November 2015, Diges released his fourth studio album, his first with Universal Music, titled ''Calle Broadway''. It consists of versions of famous songs from

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

musicals. The album was followed by a same-titled tour of concert-shows across the Spanish geography. Beginning in March 2017, Diges led as Jean Valjean in the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian production of ''

'' at the Teatro Renault in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. On 29 November 2017, it was announced Diges would also lead as Valjean in the 2018 Mexican revival of ''Les Misérables'' at the Teatro Telcel in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. Diges was part of the Mexican production until March 2019.

2019-present: ''El Médico'' and ''Kinky Boots''

Beginning in September 2019, Diges led as Rob J. Cole in the Madrid musical ''El Médico'', at the Teatro Nuevo Apolo. In October 2021, the Madrid production of '' Kinky Boots'' opened at the Espacio Delicias with Diges as Charlie Price.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Awards

*Premio del Teatro Musical (''Musical Theatre Award'') for Best Breakthrough Actor for '' Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar'' (2007) *Premio Nacional de Teatro (''National Theatre Award'') for Best Actor in Musicals (2010) *Nominated – Premio de la Música (''Spanish Music Award'') for Best Breakthrough Songwriter for " Algo pequeñito" (shared with Alberto Jódar Collado, Jesús Cañadilla Gómez and Luis Miguel de la Varga Velasco) (2011) *Nominated — Premio Dama de la Victoria for Best Lead Actor in a Musical for ''Los Miserables'' (Mexican production) (2019)

References

External links

*
Official WebsiteDaniel Diges at Warner Music Spain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diges, Daniel 1981 births Living people People from Alcalá de Henares Spanish male musical theatre actors Spanish pianists Latin pop singers Male pianists 21st-century Spanish pianists 21st-century Spanish male singers 21st-century Spanish singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants