Mucho Talento: Senior Cristina Tzintzun smiles and waves after a performance on the Spanish language talent competition show “Tengo Talento Mucho Talento,” where she appeared and advanced all the way to the quarterfinals.
The lights hit her face as she enters the room and steps on the cold stage. Cameras point at her from every angle, as the judges wait for her to perform. Her palms get sweaty, she’s scared of messing up, and she holds the microphone up against her mouth. Suddenly the words just come out.
Most students on campus never experience being on a TV show or what it feels like to be in front of a camera and have to speak to judges. But Senior Cristina Tzintzun has, showing off her singing skills on a TV show called “Tengo Talento Mucho Talento,” a show that features talented people from the U.S. made for the hispanic public living in this country.
To be in the show, Tzintzun had to go through auditions in Austin where she, with support from her dad and sister, was able to see what really goes on behind the scenes of shows like these. What she experienced was nothing like what most expect an audition to be like.
“While I was there, I noticed that the judges seemed more interested in people who put on a show,” Cristina said. “I knew this because before I went on stage to audition, my dad told me I had to give grace to the judges and tell a story, so what I did was joke around here and there. This worked because they called me five days after, and they sent me my plane ticket. Since I’m underage, I needed someone to accompany me, so they also paid for my dad’s ticket.”
Cristina’s dad, Hugo Tzintzun was able to experience everything alongside his daughter. He saw how a talent show operates, which was something very new and exciting for him as well.
“It really was something way different than what I expected,” Mr. Tzintzun said. “But overall, it was exciting to see how a TV show works and to see beyond what we see at home.”
When it came down to going on stage and performing on TV, she was asked many questions from the judges while she was on stage which took a lot of time, and is something the audience does not get to see. To the viewer, the person is on stage for about five minutes depending on their performance, but that’s not the reality.
“When I was on stage, the judges asked me questions about myself,” Cristina said. “This took about an hour. The program also came to San Antonio to film a backstory about me which they aired before I went on stage.”
When the time came for Cristina to perform, it wasn’t as simple as her just starting to sing and the judges deciding on whether she made it to the next round or not. The show was much more staged, since directors would tell the participants what to do and even how to act towards the judges.
“During the show, the directors told us what to do and say,” Cristina said. “They would call cut sometimes and tell us ‘no, do it again.’ For me, it wasn’t that bad because I didn’t have to act like a rude person, but for some people, they had to act like they didn’t get along with the judges.”
Cristina performed the song “Me Gustas Mucho,” and though she made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the competition, she didn’t expect how the judges would decide on who could move on to the next round. While the audience at home sees the judges only determine who goes to the next round, in reality, it was all up to the director to say who gets to be on the show again.
“On TV, it seems like the judges are the ones who decide who continues on to the next round, but really it’s the directors who decide on this,” Cristina said. “Even if the judges rejected you, if the director liked your performance, he could call you back and get you back on the show.”
She shared every bit of this experience with her father, who was there for her every step of the way. He was able to see his daughter live up to one of her dreams.
“It was so beautiful seeing my daughter happy that she got to experience this,” he said. “Seeing her on stage made me feel very happy and proud of her.”
Cristina had a lot of support throughout this journey, not only from her dad, but from her close friends. They were happy to see one of their friends go big and achieve something as great as this.
“I felt so proud and happy knowing that my best friend got the opportunity to make one of her dreams a reality,” Cristina’s firend Roxana Guel said. “More than anything, I was proud of her because she showed she’s a strong person and she fights toward what she wants.”
Friends like Roxana and Isamar Ramirez feel a sense of pride in being connected to Cristina on this journey, and express a sentiment that all on campus might feel when one of our own succeeds in achieving a dream. Ramirez expresses thoughts about Cristina’s success that echo the feelings of many others.
“She’s a very talented person who has a great future ahead of her whether it’s in music or in other activities,” Ramirez said. “Overall, I think this was an experience of personal growth for her. I’m just so proud of her.”