Despite being the overwhelming crowd favorite Wendover’s Jacky Collazo failed to win the all important vote from her coach Natalia Jiménez Sunday night.
Produced by the American Spanish-language network Telemundo La Voz Kids features contestants, ages 7 to 15. Prizes include $50,000 cash for their education and a recording contract with Universal Music Group.
Collazo had already stunned the audience and the judges in the first round of La Voz Kids singing contest. She was one of thousands of hopefuls to win an audition and to progress to the second round.
Three weeks ago she suffered a minor setback when her coach Natalie did not select her to go to the next round.
However Collazo proved to be the audience’s favorite in the following voting. With 1,530,628 votes Collazo finished in first place.
Jacqueline, now aged 15, is the oldest of four siblings and is the daughter of Veronica Villa. She was born and raised in Wendover.
The Voice is a reality television singing competition franchise. It is based on the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland, which was originally created by Dutch television producer John de Mol. Many other countries have adapted the format and began airing their own versions since 2011. It has become a rival to the Idols franchise, and The X Factor.
In an interview with the High Desert Advocate Wednesday, Jacky was only complimentary to the show despite her exit.
“I just had a wonderful time,” she said. “I learned so much and have grown so much. This is really one of the best chapters in my life and I am so grateful to the people of Wendover for their support.
Jacqueline was in a distant third place according to the program’s web page. But since her story appeared Thursday morning both on line and on the street in the High Desert Advocate her number surged and carried her to first place as of Friday afternoon.
“A lot of anglos simply didn’t even know that a Wendover girl was in this competition,” said Jamey Richards, one of the lead organizers for Jacky. “But once they found out it was an avalanche of support. We take care of our own from Wendover.”
Jacky added that she was thinking about competing in other sing contest such as the X-factor, American Idol and the English version of the Voice.
“But right now I am going to take a break,” she said.
Still just a in her first year of High School Jacky will graduate in 2018.
