Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘The Cuban Adele’
Even Simon Cowell says Miami’s Yoli Mayor might win AGT.
She’s been described as the Cuban Adele.
She’s Yoli Mayor, a Miami singer who has been competing this summer on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” reality show.
Early in the season, judge Simon Cowell remarked that “she could be a contender to win the whole show.”
But she is currently in the live quarterfinals of the show’s 12th season. On Tuesday night, she belted out “Human” by Rag’n’Bone Man.
The winner of the show gets $1 million, plus bragging rights.
Here are some fun facts about the Little Havana songstress who has said that Amy Winehouse, Ella Fitzgerald and Adele have inspired her musically. First “AGT” audition: During the May 30 episode, the 21-year-old’s audition impressed the judges. She originally began singing Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You,” but Cowell stopped her, saying the performance “was feeling very old-fashioned.” After host Tyra Banks ran out onto the stage, loosened her hair and removed her jewelry and shoes, Mayor sang Ed Sheeran’s “Make it Rain” to a standing ovation from the judges. She received four yes votes to move onto the next round.
“They made me feel more vulnerable and more comfortable,” Mayor later told WTVJ-Ch. 6’s midmorning
show “6 in the Mix.” “I was able to be me and give me.”
Early start: On the show, Mayor said she has been singing since age 2. She said she “learns everything by ear, and sings straight from the heart,” according to her Facebook page.
She studied at the Academy of Arts and Minds in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood.
At her parent’s auto repair shop, she’d sing for their favorite customers.
Local acts: Mayor has been known to perform throughout South Florida, including at a recent “Late” after-hours event at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science)
and on NBC’s “6 in the Mix” show. She also has been regularly featured at El Tucán restaurant in Brickell.
DJ Khaled love: After singing her version of Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain” during the July 25 episode, guest judge DJ Khaled told her, “You are beautiful. Your voice is beautiful. You is flawless.”
Album: As she competes on the reality show, Mayor is working on her album.
“America’s Got Talent’’ airs 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays and repeats at 8 p.m. Fridays on WTVJCh. 6 in the Fort Lauderdale-Miami TV market and WPTV-Ch. 5 in West Palm Beach.