In Glee's 13th episode, aptly named 'Diva', Darren sings the Queen classic "Don't stop me now". Airing Thursday night, this episode has a central theme relating to the male psyche, where his self image is questioned. Darren does a fantastic job of channeling Freddie Mercury, one of the greatest male Diva's of all time.

As Darren was shooting scenes for Glee on the Paramount lot, he was shocked, and overwhelmed as a plane chartered by his fans flew overhead with a banner that read "Happy 26th Darren Criss, The Sky's The Limit". Darren was filled with gratitude for the extravagant gift. Criss created a video for his fans, in which he said "I've seen some crazy things in my life, but this is probably one of the craziest, that is insane. That is really an amazing gesture. Thank you from the bottom of my heart all of you who put that together, that's wild. They let me out from rehearsal just so I could see that with my own eyes. Thank you so very much, I am without words.".

Darren Criss, along with fellow 'StarKid', Joey Richter present at the 2013 Annie Awards.
The Annie Awards celebrate excellence in animation for film, television and video games. Some of the nominees for best animated feature include;  Brave, Frankenweenie, Hotel Transylvania, and Rise of the Guardians.