Childhood and youth Bautista was born in
Imus, Cavite, on October 19, 1981. He is the eldest of three siblings, sons of Josefa Rizalina and Ebert Bautista. He was a choir member in their church since he was seven years old. Bautista studied grade school and high school at International Christian Academy in Sucat, Paranaque, which also hailed other Filipino actors such as
Ryan Eigenmann,
Geoff Eigenmann,
Rico Yan and
Billy Joe Crawford. He then took up landscape architecture at the
University of the Philippines Diliman, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He was a table tennis varsity player during college before focusing on singing and entering showbiz.
2003–2004: Star in a Million and self-titled album Bautista gained popularity after becoming the first grand finalist on ABS-CBN's reality singing competition Star in a Million. Though placing only fourth overall, he quickly become one of the most popular contestants, and was offered a recording contract with
Warner Music Philippines shortly after he was eliminated from the show. He released the single "The Way You Look at Me", in 2004 from his self-titled album. {{Listen The song, penned by American composers Andrew Fromm and Keith Follese, received a Platinum Record Award on its first week of release in the Philippines. The album, the first live album by the singer, is mainly composed of covers of different old-time hit love songs and was recorded live in a Teatrino Bar in
Greenhills with a small number of audience, which are mostly specially invited fans of the singer. Follow up to the success of the live album was the release of his very first live DVD under the same title in early 2007. Bautista debuts as an actor on the big screen in
Regal Entertainment's 2006 Metro Manila Film Festival entry
Mano Po 5: Gua Ai Di. In this film directed by
Joel Lamangan and written by Abi Lam-Parayno, Dode Cruz and Andrew Paredes, Christian plays Timothy a.k.a. Felix Yan, an Asian pop star, providing support to the bankable love team of
Angel Locsin and
Richard Gutierrez. The single "My Heart Has A Mind of Its Own" from
"Completely" is used as one of the film's soundtrack. He launched a four-city tour in Indonesia on January 26 to February 2, 2007. The tour included visits in
Jakarta,
Makassar,
Surabaya, and
Bandung. In October 2007, he embarked a concert tour, Inspired, a one-night show in the Cuneta Astrodome with guest appearances by
Gary Valenciano, Tricia Amper Jimenez, Joni Villanueva and
Sam Milby. He collaborated with
Rachelle Ann Go on the song "Pag-ibig Na Kaya?", a
Filipino version of "Perhaps Love" (originally sung by Howl & J), that was used in the Koreanovela
Princess Hours, aired on ABS-CBN. Bautista re-released
Just a Love Song...Live including a CD of different
Christmas songs.
2008: West Side Story and Captured Bautista was included in the Valentine Concert on February 13, 2007, Ol 4 Luv, which was held at the Araneta Coliseum with
Rachelle Ann Go,
Erik Santos and
Sarah Geronimo. Bautista's live album,
Just a Love Song...Live!, sold close to Double Platinum following the release of the repackaged Christmas edition containing his rendition of
Gary Valenciano's "Pasko Na Sinta Ko" as well as other Christmas songs. A musical talk show starring Bautista,
The Christian Bautista Show, also aired on the Makisig Network. Bautista also won the award for Favorite Musical Artist Act at the first Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards Philippines, held in 2008. Bautista has also participated in musical theatre. In 2008, he was cast by STAGES in the lead role of Tony in the Philippine production of
West Side Story, staged at the Meralco Theater from September to October 2008. The production also featured Karylle as one of the actresses portraying Maria. In July 2008, Bautista's third studio album
Captured was released. The album features
bossa nova singer
Sitti.
2009: Romance Revisited Early 2009, Bautista released his last single for
Captured, "Limutin Na Lang", which featured a music video containing compilation of his videos and pictures from his past albums/album tours. In 2009, Bautista released his very first compilation,
The Platinum Collection. It would be his last album released under
Warner Music Philippines. By early August 2009, Bautista had transferred to
Universal Records. His first project under the recording label featured 19 tracks and songs originally performed by the legendary
Jose Mari Chan. The album,
Romance Revisited, rose to the top of the charts immediately after its release. Bautista performed several duets in the album, with popular pop stars
Sarah Geronimo,
Lani Misalucha and
Regine Velasquez who early in her career also collaborated with Chan. In November 2009, Bautista was a guest at
Sarah Geronimo's Record Breaker Concert where they sang their duet "Please Be Careful with My Heart".
2010: Dahsyat and A Wonderful Christmas In February 2010, Bautista appeared again in
Dahsyat, an Indonesian variety show from RCTI in Jakarta, where he performed a duet with Indonesian singer
Bunga Citra Lestari with an
Indonesian version of "Please Be Careful with My Heart". In November 2010, Bautista released his seventh overall album and first Christmas album under Universal Records, titled
A Wonderful Christmas. On December 2, 2011, the album was certified Diamond by
PARI.
2011: Outbound Bautista released his fifth studio album and seventh overall album,
Outbound, in 2011. He also joined the cast of a musical drama series,
Kitchen Musical, with Karylle, Thou Reyes, Art Acuna.
2012 During the first quarter of the year, the
First Class: Outbound Expanded Edition album was launched. Together with
Karylle, they received top billing at the Love & Laughter concert at the Resorts World on February 29. Bautista remained active on
Kitchen Musical for the 2012 season. In the third quarter of 2012, he was part of 10th anniversary special of
The Way You Look at Me that celebrated his 10-year in the industry. Bautista was also featured on the series
Princess and I, which aired on ABS-CBN during 2012. Bautista's sixth studio album, and eighth full-length
X-Plus was released in October 2012.
2013–present In March 2013, Christian Bautista signed a three-year exclusive contract with
GMA Network after months of rumors. He performed for the first time on
Party Pilipinas on March 24, 2013, also marking the third anniversary of the show. In 2023, Bautista joined talent agency NYMA. ==Personal life==