Finding her ‘Voz’
Michelle Raymon of Houston had one goal repeatedly pop up on her vision board. She wanted to be on “La Voz.” This year, she made it happen. Raymon, 25, was on Season 2 of “La Voz,” a Spanish-language version of “The Voice,” the singing competition where superstar coaches spin around in huge red chairs to choose team members based solely on their voices.
“I love seeing those dreams come true,” Raymon says. She’s from Medellin, Colombia but moved to Houston almost three years ago.
Raymon was the last pick of the
Houston’s Michelle Raymon competed on Spanish version of ‘The Voice’
season and was selected by Colombian singer Carlos Vives to be part of his team. She made it to the live rounds and was eliminated during the semifinals. At one point, Vives called her his favorite contestant.
“I knew there was something very special in your voice. And when I turned, I realized that you also represent that beauty of Colombian women,” Vives told her.
“La Voz” kicked off in January but several episodes were delayed until late summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Raymon and other contestants can be seen wearing face masks in some episodes. Sammy Colon, another singer on Team Vives, was eventually crowned the winner.
“La Voz” is Raymon’s biggest break to date. She participated in several TV singing competitions when she lived in Colombia, including versions of “The X Factor” and “American Idol.”
“It’s a different experience from the music: the pressure, always facing a challenge,” she says. “I liked that feeling, the adrenaline of being there.”
Raymon was encouraged to audition in Houston by her fiancé. They met while he was on vacation in Colombia. He returned every month-and-half for two years until she moved to Houston almost three years ago.
Communication, the saying goes, is key in a relationship. But the couple needed help to do so. She barely spoke English, and he knew very little Spanish. They used Google and translation apps to talk to each other.
“We’d literally be in a restaurant and he’d pass me the phone to show me what he was saying, and I’d respond. But I also started to really get to know him,” Raymon says. “Now when we communicate, he doesn’t need to say anything because as soon as he moves his mouth, even an inch, I already know that he’s going to laugh or what he’s thinking.”
Love may have been the inspiration for her “Voz” journey. But it came with hurdles. Raymon didn’t have her green card at the time and was worried the show would reject her. She reluctantly showed up to auditions at The Galleria and got the OK. She credits Vives with pushing her out of her comfort zone and was inspired by his intelligence and “beautiful energy.”
“He was the only Colombian judge, so you always felt that connection,” Raymon says. “I felt that acceptance.”
Raymon’s parents encouraged her talent from a young age. Her father, Gabriel Raymon, is a wellknown singer in Colombia and taught her “to always maintain my integrity.” There was always music playing at home, and he introduced her to Frank Sinatra and jazz.
“I would sit on his lap and he would sing to me. He’d rock me as if I were on a horse, and I remember music just always being on,” Raymon says. “I have photos of my mom putting headphones on her stomach when she was pregnant with me. She’d put them on me when I was little, too.”
Raymon has been networking and building a team since her time on “La Voz,” cultivating her social-media presence and aiming for a single release next year. She says her original music will likely fall in the “pop urbano” category occupied by countrymen J Balvin and Maluma. Eventually, she’d like to do something to truly showcase her vocals.
In the meantime, she’s spent quarantine painting and keeping in touch with her siblings, who live throughout Texas.
“I feel like quarantine has helped me find myself again, to focus on things I’d lost,” she says. “I’ve also started working with a life coach who’s helping me with the transition between countries. All positive things.”