The Voice Winner 2024

Have you seen the audition for American Idol 2024? It was held a couple of hours ago, and an unsung hero emerged from nowhere.

The spotlight. I saw it searing through the hidden shadows and spilling on the stage. It found him. Sofronio Vasquez!

I was stunned. He was too, judging by his trembling hands that wrapped tightly around the microphone.

And in a fraction of a second, there was a roar.

Not from the king of the jungle. The crowd. They could not contain it anymore.

It was electrifying. A tidal wave that had the fabrics of his soul suffer for it. But he steadied the resultant effect.

It was a life-defining moment that will last forever in his life.

I saw Micheal Buble, his coach. I heard his voice from the sidelines: “Utica’s got a champion!”, he echoed it and I heard. It was brimming with pride and more pride.

Do not think that the feat was just Sofronios's. It is bigger than him, and he knows this, too.

It belongs to the unseen hands that had carried him there–the hardened hands of his mother, who was scrubbing floors until they bled.

And the ghostly protection of his father. His laughter from the way beyond had never ceased haunting his dreams.

But this beautiful story started from somewhere. Years earlier. In a humble village in the Philippines.

What used to permeate the atmosphere was a heavy, well-adorned, omnipresent poverty, hopelessness, despair, and perseverance.

His father was a subsistence fisherman. He could only hum songs of hope, even when his tools—nets, traps, hooks—were reeling in disappointment.

Sofronio would join the music fray with his gaunt-looking body. Pathetic.

Yet, his miniature body was always ready and willing to carry a voice too big to handle.

A young Sofronio would sing along, imagining an audience beyond the jungle’s scope.

Then emerged a shattering event that changed the trajectory of everything.

Like a thief in the night, Sofronio’s father battled kidney failure that ultimately claimed his life.

The incident held Sofronio by the jugular.

His dream of becoming a music star was threatened.

It had to surrender to dentistry. Microphones also surrendered for tooth masks—important instruments of the dentist—just to keep body and soul together.

But music kept being a friend. A loyal friend who refused to leave when adversaries showed up.

Music hung around as he worked relentlessly.

On the podium, the reminiscences of those ugly days paid him an august visit—an emotional one—under the gleaming lights of ‘’The Voice’’ stage.

He looked back. He saw no one but the future.

Fright at that moment was unnecessary. Every musical note to be unleashed had his story etched into it.

The first line of Who’s Lovin’ You gave life to the hitherto quiet room. And everywhere exploded.

Michael Bublé, his mentor, watched his mentee doing wonders. He was completely in awe.

Same with his sharp suit.

“You’re doing it, Sofronio. This is your moment,” he whispered to himself. The monologue had a quintessential effect.

It traveled to Sofronio on the stage. I could feel each note soaring.

I sensed the presence of his mother’s prayers. The genuineness of her wishes. His father’s broken dreams, now coming through.

The dusty and untarred streets of Utica. All. Everything suddenly became his sanctuary.

A crescendo was attained. The audience did not only applaud. They roared.

And I saw confetti when it rained down on the new American Idol Winner 2024—Sofronio–who

had collapsed on his knees.

“Yes, we made it,’’ he screamed.

Next, from nowhere, the trophy was seen shining brightly in his hand.

A prize had been won.

And It was Sofronios’. But the prize itself did not matter.

What mattered to Sofronios was the proof–proof that the tiniest voices could rise above the

loudest storms, nurturing and carrying dreams across seas and oceans and into the hearts of

millions.