Spanish Christmas Lottery: The children of San Ildefonso prepare themselves for the “El Gordo” prize.

 

SPANISH CHRISTMAS LOTTERY: THE CHILDREN OF SAN ILDEFONSO PREPARE THEMSELVES FOR THE “EL GORDO” PRIZE.

There are 32 children who are rehearsing to sing the lucky numbers drawn for the Spanish Christmas lottery on December 22nd.The children of the San Ildefonso Residence are already practicing for the coming Spanish Christmas Lottery draw, which will take place on December 22nd, in the aim of harmonizing their voices, as explained to the press by Pedro Vazquez, one of the teachers at the school.Since last Wednesday November 12th, Mr Vazquez has been working together with other teachers to refine the voices of the children and to correct their gestures, stressing that “the hardest thing is to match these voices” when singing the El Gordo de Navidad numbers. Rehearsals take place at the Residence every day from Monday to Friday between 18.00pm and 19.00pm."Once we have formed the group, our job is to get them to coordinate when singing the numbers which are drawn. They have to show the number at a certain time, knowing how to announce the prize and, if for example a colleague runs out of voice, they have to lower their voice. They must be very coordinated", explains Vazquez.Dressed in normal dresses, the children practice in a small hall with a table and a piece of wood that represents the drums that will be used in the Spanish Christmas lottery draw on December 22nd. Vazquez says he asks them to sing the winning numbers “with strength”.The children of the Colegio de San Ildefonso Residence voluntarily put themselves forward for this activity and then the teachers make the final selection."We must select the most cohesive voices and when we see that it is not possible for certain voices to fit well into the group, we then pass this child on to the job of extracting the balls. The children normally understand and accept this when it happens, knowing that the important thing is to participate and that the end result is good ", said Vazquez.As well as having a strong voice in order to be able to sing the Spanish Christmas lottery numbers drawn for 20-25 minutes, keeping up with the pace is also another requirement that the young singers must meet. "The reading of the number on the ball, which is very small, must be done in efficient time. They have to read and insert the ball in a wire every second and this can only be achieved by knowing the numbers well,” explained Vazquez.60 children of different nationalitiesAt present, the San Ildefonso Residence welcomes 60 children aged from 6 to 14 years. These children are there as boarders, Monday through Friday, and attend school in eight schools and institutes of the area.The Residence provides support to families whose economic, working and social circumstances require specific help in raising their children, representing a support, not a replacement, to the families of Madrid with special needs.According to Vázquez, in the Residence there are children of different nationalities - more than ten - including Cubans, Dominicans, Ecuadorians, Argentine and Colombian. The fact that they have different accents is not an issue when 'singing' the numbers for the Spanish Christmas lottery draw, since they adapt quickly.2012’s Gordo prize singers returnShirley Fonseca, the girl who sang the Gordo prize (first prize) in 2012’s Spanish Christmas lottery draw, will also participate in the draw this year, and she confesses that she is not nervous at this point. "Then I'll become nervous when I am there in the draw," she joked. However, this time she feels pessimistic about her chances of singing the top prize, since her turn to come out is towards the end of the draw.Her teammate Alex Chertes, who also sang the Gordo in the Spanish Christmas lottery draw two years ago, will be there with her.It's simple and easy to purchase your Spanish Christmas lottery tickets online at Lottery24.com.