When 18-year-old Odessa High School senior Esteban Velasquez walked on staged at the Ector Junior High School Auditorium on Thursday, December 6 he received a response similar to that of Elvis Presley. High-pitched screams and loud applauses came from several hundred young teenagers cheering the handsome and talented teen who took Best Mariachi Vocalist in the U.S. at Ford Motor Company’s 13th Annual Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza five days earlier. About 500 mariachi musicians, families, teenagers and local television crews, filled the auditorium for the Mariachi Christmas Serenade which featured Esteban and several student-based mariachi groups representing area elementary/middle schools and Odessa High School.

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