PITTSBURGH,None — Raquel Castro wowed America with her rendition of Leona Lewis's "Bleeding Love" during her blind audition on NBC's hit show "The Voice." I just had the chance to talk with the 16-year-old rising star.
Jessica: Tell me a little bit about your background, Raquel.
Raquel: Well, I'm Puerto Rican and Italian and I'm a junior [in high school] on Long Island and I'm just like a normal kid. I like to have fun and singing is something I've always liked to do. I'm also an actress. I was a child actress when I was younger and I just recently started to pursue my singing career and I'm really excited to have this opportunity.
Jessica: You were of course picked to be on the team of your idol, Christina Aguilera. She happens to be a Pittsburgh native so she holds a special place in all of our hearts, too, but what has it been like meeting and working with her?
Raquel: It was a dream come true to meet Christina because she has been my inspiration since I was 4 or 5 years old when I first started singing. So to be able to work with her and just meet her was truly amazing. I was very nervous getting on stage and having to perform in front of her. It was my first big performance and the fact it was in front of Christina was really nerve-racking for me. I did start working with her for the Battle Round and I'm excited about that. She's honestly amazing inside and out. Just a really nice person, outside of all of this singing stuff, she's really a great person.
Jessica: You mentioned that you were a child actress. I knew I recognized you from somewhere and of course now everyone is talking about you being in "Jersey Girl" with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. So you're an actress and a singer. Do you want to try and pursue both?
Raquel: I would love to. You know, acting is another one of my passions. I love to perform, I love to entertain in general, so definitely in the future. Right now I'm just focusing on singing and hoping everything goes well with the show. I'm really excited about the Battle Rounds and hoping it goes well for me, but definitely in the future I would love to pursue both and continue with my acting as well.
Jessica: Who besides Christina are some of your musical inspirations and some of your favorite artists?
Raquel: I also love Beyonce. I think that she's an amazing performer and I've always looked up to her as well. Jennifer Lopez is another amazing entertainer and you know I got to work with her on "Jersey Girl" which was a lot of fun and she was always my idol since I was young because I saw her in the movie "Selena" and that's really when I fell in love with the whole music thing. And I do actually look up to Selena. I have a cover of one of her songs on YouTube. And I love Celine Dion also she sings my favorite song, "My Heart Will Go On." I've loved that ever since I was a little girl so I have a lot of inspirations from everywhere.
Jessica: Well, some great choices there. I wish you the best of luck Raquel. The sky is definitely the limit for you so good luck and we'll be watching "The Voice" for these Battle Rounds.
Raquel: Thank you so much!
"The Voice" airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on Channel 11.