'La Voz Kids' 2015 Winner: 11-Year-Old Jonael Santiago of Team Natalia Jimenez Wins Singing Competition
Jonael Santiago is celebrating his win on the Spanish-language singing competition TV show "La Voz Kids."
The 11-year-old Puerto Rican will receive a recording contract with Universal Music Latino, Billboard reported.
"La Voz Kids" is the Spanish-language kids' version of "The Voice." It has just completed its third season. The show airs on Sunday nights on Telemundo.
More than 1.2 million viewers voted in the highly contested final Sunday. Santiago's victory was not easy. He faced stiff competition from the other finalists.
Shanty Sumaya, a Mexican-American from Texas, was a challenger for Santiago. The 11-year-old is experienced in playing gigs in her home state and is a talented grupero singer.
Franser Pazosa, a 14-year-old born in Cuba, was another obstacle for Santiago. Pazosa has a versatile voice.
Santiago might not have the vocal talent that the other finalists had, but he has the stage presence, attitude and dance moves that helped propel him to victory. His final song was Bruno Mars' "Treasure," chosen by his coach Natalia Jimenez.
"He's an amazing package," Jimenez said. "He can dance, he can sing, he can act. I wanted him to sing something he can move with. He's really good at singing ballads, but the most impressive thing is seeing him dance and sing at the same time."
Daddy Yankee, one of the coaches competing against Santiago and Jimenez, agreed that Santiago had great stage presence.
"It's so entertaining to watch Jona onstage," he said after Santiago's final performance.
Santiago competed against singers that were coached by Jimenez, ranchera singer Pedro Fernandez and reggaeton superstar Daddy Yankee. "La Voz Kids" has been a success for Telemundo, helping them beat out Univision for Sunday night ratings.
"La Voz Kids" is a replica of "The Voice," but features kids as contestants, music stars as their coaches and mainstream guest performers. Sunday's finale featured guest performances from Marc Anthony, Gente de Zona, Lucero and coach Fernandez.
Santiago will receive $50,000 in cash from AT&T that will be used toward his education. He will also receive a recording contract from Universal Music Latino for the production of a song and video.
Santiago can either record a song in Spanish or English. The young singer feels comfortable with both languages, but he admits that Spanish is his preferred language.
"Spanish is my first language and I came to Miami two years ago and I'm not perfect [in English yet]. I'm Puerto Rican and I always will be and I'll talk Spanish forever."
Santiago takes singing and dancing lessons from a local community theater in Miami, where he lives with his mother, according to Yahoo.
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