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La Cotorra Exclusive: How Mila from Valencia Made It onto La Voz Kids
Eight-year-old Mila Lo Coco's repertoire includes Whitney Houston, Disney numbers, and a song about Gena the Crocodile. This Russian-speaking Valencia resident stepped onto the stage of La Voz Kids after studying singing for just six months.
La Cotorra spoke exclusively with Mila's mother, Yulia, about the behind-the-scenes world of the popular show and the atmosphere during filming.
Mila's mother is from Saint Petersburg, and her father is Italian. Before moving to Spain, they lived for several years in Germany, where Mila was born and grew up in a multilingual environment. As a result, Russian, German, Spanish, Italian, and English all coexist easily in her life. For Mila's video introduction, the project's editors used a home recording in which she sings the song from the cartoon about Gena the Crocodile.
"When we submitted the application, Mila had been studying singing for only six months. To be honest, we didn't take La Voz Kids seriously at all. We just decided to give it a try. I thought it was still too early for her, but the vocal teacher from the Art Music school suggested sending in the form, and we agreed," says Yulia.
So began a long story of castings: online stages, waiting for feedback from the editors. Before the blind auditions that viewers see, the children go through a major selection process, and each new stage feels like the last.
One of the castings took place in Valencia. Parents were not allowed into the audition, so Yulia couldn't hear Mila sing and could only wait outside the door.
"When she came out, she was in floods of tears. Mila was sure she had sung terribly and definitely hadn't got through. The whole way home, she was upset, going over every note, analysing where and what had gone wrong. And back then, I couldn't even imagine that a few months later I'd see her on the stage of La Voz Kids," Yulia recalls.
The filming took place long before it aired, so for several months the family lived in a state of silence: they couldn't reveal the song, the result, or which of the coaches had turned around.
"Sometimes it felt like we were living in two realities at once. In one school, theatre, tennis, and ordinary children's affairs. In the other — castings, filming, waiting for news, and the feeling that something completely incredible might happen at any moment. And all of it had to be kept secret, too," says Mila's mother.
On set, Mila turned out to be one of the youngest participants of the season — at the time of the casting, she was still 7 years old. But compared with the teenagers, as Yulia noticed, it was actually easier for her daughter. The older participants already knew the Spanish judges — showbiz stars — well, understood the scale of the competition, and often grew more nervous. Mila, on the other hand, took what was happening far more simply and spontaneously.
The main revelation for the family was the atmosphere of the project. Yulia had expected a harsher competitive environment, but saw a very caring attitude towards the children.
Psychologists worked with them constantly. The children were literally told over and over: you're already here, you've already come a huge way, you're already doing brilliantly regardless of what happens next. They said the same to the parents. We were also constantly brought back to the idea that this isn't a life-long exam, nor a story about failure or success at any cost. I think that was very important for the children.
Mila's mother
Behind the scenes, everyone tried to make the very experience of taking part valuable and joyful. The children not only rehearsed but also talked and played a lot. As Yulia noticed, the children who didn't get through the auditions were sometimes upset, not even because of the loss itself. Often, they were sad to part with the atmosphere of the project. The older kids quickly took Mila under their wing and supported her in everything.
"She found a lot of friends there. For me that was a big surprise: there turned out to be so much warmth in the competition," says Yulia.
Mila stepped onto the La Voz Kids stage with Un mundo ideal from the cartoon "Aladdin." She had learned this song long before taking part in the project, while preparing for a school musical. Back then, it was simply a favourite song of a Disney princess, and a few months later, it was the very one she sang at the audition for the country's main children's show.
On stage, Mila looked composed and calm. She chatted freely with the coaches and, according to her mother, seemed not to feel the tension that her parents and vocal teacher were experiencing behind the scenes.
"We looked at her and couldn't understand where this professionalism in her came from. So small on that huge stage, yet completely at ease. She chatted with the judges like old acquaintances," says Yulia.
The season's coaches were Luis Fonsi (the very one who performed the hit Despacito), pop singer Ana Mena, singer Antonio Orozco, and Eurovision participant and TV presenter Edurne. They all made a strong impression on the family, above all through their warm attitude towards the participants.
Formally, three coaches turned around for Mila. In fact, there could have been four: Ana Mena also wanted to take the girl into her team, but before the performance, Luis Fonsi used one of the show's most exciting features — blocking a rival. The word "Bloqueado" appeared on Ana's chair, and she could no longer press the button. This didn't stop her, however, from rising from her chair to see the singer and shower Mila with compliments after her performance.
"All the judges were very kind to the children. They gave a lot of support, hugged them, and said nice things. Orozco, especially if no one turned around for a child, he often found just the right words, asked them not to be upset, to come back next year, to keep singing. You could see it helped the children," Yulia recalls.
After her performance, Mila had to choose a coach, and she gave her preference to Luis Fonsi.
And then came a moment that was left out of the broadcast version, though Yulia tells of this episode with particular tenderness.
Orozco was very upset that Mila hadn't chosen him. And so she went up to him, stroked his head, and told him not to worry. Everyone around laughed — Mila really was trying to comfort him.
Mila's mother
After filming, Yulia gave her daughter a pendant engraved with Voz Kids — as a keepsake of the show. Many performances still lie ahead, and perhaps it is these that will help fulfil her most cherished dream — to become the voice of a real Disney princess.