by Gina Scarpa

 

In the second round of blind auditions on The Voice, 16 year old Raquel Castro took the stage to perform "Bleeding Love" and got the attention of Christina Aguilera, her idol. Christina turned around for Raquel and took her on her team. Now, the teen performer prepares to compete in the battle round and today, we spoke to her in an exclusive interview about her experiences on The Voice.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What made you decide to try out for The Voice?
A. Raquel: I really liked the fact that it was all about the voice and no one was being judged on what they looked like or what they had done.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You've done acting since you were very young, appearing in Jersey Girl and Brooklyn's Finest. When did your interest in singing begin?
A. Raquel: I always loved to sing, ever since I was 4 or 5 years old. In the past year and a half, I decided to pursue that as a career.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Were you nervous when you stepped out onto the stage for the blind auditions?
A. Raquel: Oh yes! I was beyond nervous. It was kind of my first big singing performance. The fact that I had to do it in front of my inspiration, Christina, and the other coaches was hard to take in. I just mentally was like, "This is my shot! I really need to focus." I prayed to my gramma. I always do that before I go on stage and I prayed to God. I was hoping for the best.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Did you know that Blake was trying to get Adam to turn around for you?
A. Raquel: I didn't know that until I saw the episode. I was like, "Blake's my boy!"

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: It took a while before Christina finally turned around. What was your reaction when you saw her?
A. Raquel: I don't even remember! I saw my reaction when I watched the show. I had butterflies in my stomach. I started singing to her. I was reaching out to her like, "Thank you so much!"

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Were you worried that maybe no one would turn around?
A. Raquel: I was! I told myself that before that, there's definitely a chance that someone will turn around and a chance that someone won't turn around. That's why I was basically just performing to the crowd. The next thing I know, I'm turning left and I look right and Christina turned around. I was like, "Oh my God!" It was really shocking. Just the fact that she did, I was in shock. I'm just glad I didn't stop singing.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Did seeing the first few battle rounds make you nervous or excited to get on the stage and go head to head against somebody?
A. Raquel: A little bit of both. The fact that we all became such close friends and the fact that someone had to go home from each team was hard. At the same time, you see the crowd's energy and it gets you pumped and excited.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you have any favorites in the competition?
A. Raquel: We all became such close friends. Everyone is just amazing!

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Is there anything that you want to say to your fans?
A. Raquel: I just wanna say thank you so much! I love the support. It's a great feeling. I'm on Twitter all the time so if anyone's on there, they can hit me up on there. I'm always answering people so let me know what you think!

 

The Voice airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.

 

(Image courtesy of NBC)

 

Follow Raquel @raquelcastro and Gina @ginascarpa