Acosta Earns Golden Ticket with Mariachi Song on “American Idol”

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Much like Julio Cesar Castillo impressed the coaches on The Voice with his mariachi audition, Victoria Acosta has earned raves from American Idol’s judges for her second-chance mariachi song.

During her audition for the Fox reality singing competition, the mariachi singer and San Antonio native performed Fergie’s smash hit “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” Even though she impressed the judges, it wasn’t until Randy Jackson asked her to perform a mariachi song that Acosta moved the judges to send her to Hollywood.

“The reason why I wanted you to do that is because you see the connection there, that’s the connection you need to have,” Jackson said as all of the other judges, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban concurred.

Acosta, who started singing mariachi music when she was 6, said she was excited about the opportunity.

“Getting this golden ticket means I get to represent San Antonio and I am really excited to go to Hollywood,” said Acosta, adding that one of the main reasons why she loves performing is because she gets tourists “involved in the culture.”

“They can say, ‘Hey this is a modern city [San Antonio]’ but we still need connect to our historical roots,” she said.

“The Voice” Contestant Duron Breezes Into the Top 12

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Dez Duron is feelin’ America’s love on NBC’s The Voice…

Following his impressive rendition of Hunter Hayes‘ No. 1 country song “Wanted” in the second installment of the show’s Playoff Rounds on Wednesday night, the 22-year-old Latino heartthrob was declared safe after receiving enough votes from the public to advance to the Top 12.

Duron and Sylvia Yacoub got the most public votes on Christina Aguilera’s team.

And when it came down to picking who else to send on to the Top 12, Aguilera had to choose between Latina singer Adriana Louise, Devyn Deloera and De’borah.

“Don’t let anyone or anyone’s opinion define who you are,” said Aguilera before revealing deciding to keep Adriana Louise.

Meanwhile, Team Adam member Bryan Keith Hernandez advanced to the next round after being one of the top two vote-getters, while Melanie Martinez had to rely on her mentor to advance to the Top 12.

“No one is better than the other, I don’t believe that,” said Adam Levine before choosing Martinez over fellow Latina Joselyn Rivera and Loren Allred.

But Diego Val wouldn’t be so lucky… Cee-Lo Green opted to send Cody Belew on to the next round and send home Val and Mackenzie Berg.

And it was the end of the road for mariachi singer Julio Cesar Castillo. The member of Blake Shelton‘s was among the three at the bottom of the pack, but Blake Shelton decided to send Michaela Page forward instead of Castillo and Liz Davis.

Castillo Gets a Standing Ovation on “The Voice”

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Julio Cesar Castillo is proving to be El Rey of the stage on The Voice…

During Monday night’s first live show – with Adam Levine and Blake Shelton’s team members taking the stage during the Playoffs Round, the contestants performed in hopes of earning enough vote to advance to the next round.

Castillo, who performed Justin Bieber’s ”Somebody to Love” in the previous round to defeat his fellow Team Blake member MarissaAnn, returned to his mariachi roots to perform the Spanish-language classic “El Rey.”

The 21-year-old singer, who was the first contestant to audition with an all-Spanish song on The Voice, received a well-deserved standing ovation from the audience and the hard-to-please coaches on NBC’s reality singing competition.

“The first standing ovation of the night! I know you made all the Latino people out there so proud,” said Voice coach Christina Aguilera. “This is so the reason why you’re still standing strong in this competition and why you’re still here. I love that you stay true to yourself. And this is what you gotta love about Latin people. We’re so passionate and we have so much heart. It’s just in our blood. And I know not everyone was able to follow along, but you truly gave your heart to that song. And the richness of your vibrato, just mmmm. I loved it!”

Castillo’s coach agreed with Aguilera.

“ I don’t know what you’re saying,” said Shelton. “He had to find a way to make everybody understand emotionally, what’s going on on that stage. And, I don’t know if you noticed what happened in the audience, but it was pretty good buddy!”

Castillo’s fate will be decided on Thursday night’s show, when America’s votes will send two of Shelton’s five team members to the next round. He’ll then pick one of the remaining three contestants on his team to move forward.

Castillo Sings the Biebs to Victory on “The Voice”

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Julio Cesar Castillo lives to sing another day on The Voice…

During his Knockout Round battle against fellow Team Blake member MarissaAnn on Tuesday’s episode of NBC’s singing competition, the 21-year-old mariachi singer stepped up his game with a Biebs attack.

While MarissaAnn performed the Labelle’s “Lady Mar

malade,” a song which earned Christina Aguilera a Grammy in 2002, the Chicago mariachi singer performed Justin Bieber’s “Somebody to Love.”

“It’s out of my comfort zone,” acknowledged Castillo, who had previously wowed the judges with his renditions of Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” and Gloria Estefan’s “Conga,” “but it’s a side of my voice I definitely want to show the coaches.“

It’s a big risk that ultimately paid off… After two great performances that the other coaches called “dead even,” Blake Shelton ultimately named Castillo the winner of the clash, sending him to the next round.

“Right now I feel invincible,” professed Castillo. “I feel like my dream is finally coming true!”

Castillo will now compete in The Voice’s live rounds, which are set to begin next week.

Castillo Congas His Way to the Next Round on “The Voice”

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

Julio Cesar Castillo has plenty of reason to “come on, shake your body baby, do the conga!”

The 21-year-old mariachi singer, who became the first-ever The Voice contestant to ever perform a blind audition completely en español, competed against soul singer and fellow Team Blake member Terisa Griffin during Monday’s episode of the hit singing competition.

In their Battle Round bout, Castillo and Griffin performed Gloria Estefan’s “Conga” in what’s being hailed as a “battle to remember.”

Blake Shelton, the pair’s coach, pick the song as a way of finding the “middle ground” between Julio’s and Terisa’s polar opposite singing styles.

The reaction of fellow coaches Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine and Cee Lo Green made for must-see TV.

“For the first time on this show, I’m kind of speechless,” declared Aguilera. Levine shared Christina’s quandary, but the singer did manage to give Shelton kudos on the strange duet.

“Blake, you’ve really outdone yourself on this one,” he said. “It was odd and it worked.”

In the end though, Shelton picked Castillo to advance to the next round of competition.

Castillo Becomes First to Audition with Spanish Song on “The Voice”

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

It’s hard to believe in the first two seasons of NBC’s The Voice not a single potential-contestant had auditioned by singing a completely Spanish song.

But that all changed during the second episode of the hit reality show’s third season…

During Tuesday night’s blind auditions, Julio Cesar Castillo—a lifelong mariachi singer—performed Ritchie Valens’ iconic hit “La Bamba.”

“I started singing at the age of three, when I was around six, I fell in love with mariachi,” Castillo told the cameras before his audition. “For the last couple of years, I’ve been playing in a mariachi band three nights a week to support my family. In my family, me, my mom and my younger sister are the only one’s working right now. My dad was diagnosed with epilepsy. But it’s my time to do something more.”

The self-proclaimed “Mariachi Man,” who hails from Chicago, performed the entire song in Spanish… a big risk that paid off. Not only did Castillo bring the audience to its feet, he inspired a bidding war between The Voice coaches Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green. (Surprisingly, Christina Aguilera didn’t turn her chair, even though she performed some air-maraca moves while listening to Castillo’s performance.)

Shelton immediately turned his chair around, and Green followed suit at the very end.

“You saw how quickly I turned around. I just think you have a very strong and technically good voice, it’s very powerful,” Shelton told Castillo. He then went on to talk about how Castillo’s letterman-like jacket reminded him of being in a school gym, and told Castillo to picture a banner hanging on the side of a gym saying “Blake Shelton, Season Two winner” to motivate him to pick him over Green, which Castillo did.

The Voice’s social media correspondent Christina Milian seemed to appreciate Castillo becoming the first contestant to audition with a song entirely in Spanish.

“I love that we’re showing some #LatinLove on #TheVoice this season!,” tweeted the Latina singer. “@JulioCCastle is killing it with the Mariachi vocals!”

Castillo, who learned to play the guitar at 10 and also plays the saxophone, writes on his Twitter page: “Madly in love with music and hope to some day live the dream I’ve had my whole life.”

It appears he’s officially living the dream as part of Team Blake on NBC’s The Voice.

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