Verónica Rojas needs our votes more than ever: she's in the finals!

SAN ROQUE Verónica Rojas, 22, who began her singing career at a tender age, has reached the finals of the regional competition Se Llama Copla on Canal Sur, a very difficult thing to do. We asked for your votes last September, and you came across in droves. Now she needs us more than ever: On the night of April 16 is the programme's finals against very strong competition. This lovely girl is the daughter of Jimena's Arcgisa foreman, whose family -including Verónica naturally, live in San Roque. Speaking to Jose Antonio, her father, this morning, we are told that everyone is really nervous, which is hardly surprising. To vote for her on the programme (PLEASE, PLEASE DO) you have to call 905 855 506 or send a text message with the words “copla vero” to 25657. The lines are only open during the programme, which starts at about 11.30pm. San Roque Council is setting up a large screen at the Juan Luis Galiardo Theatre for the event. Would be fun to be there! (Read more about her, in Spanish.)

Verónica Rojas heads for stardom and will need our votes

SAN ROQUE In April 2009 we published an item titled Verónica Rojas: A Star is Born. We weren't far wrong. Since then this charming, beautiful girl has been hard at work gaining momentum in her chosen field: traditional Spanish singing of coplas. Our good friend José Antonio Rojas, her father and the foreman for the ARCGISA cleaning crews in Jimena, tells us that she has just been selected in a very tough TV competition on Canal Sur called Se Llama Copla (where we have to vote for her - and you will, too, won't you? - on Saturday evenings when the programme airs). She was one of ten chosen out of 1500 who turned up for the casting! But that's not all. Having her feet firmly on the ground, Verónica is combining her studies to become a teacher with having to travel to Seville every Tuesday and Saturday while she is in the competition, not to mention her musical studies, voice training etc.. (Prospero Note: I just love hearing good things about the young, about their energy - we hear so much about the bad stuff.)