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Just over a decade ago, a baby-faced Hesperia, Calif., native auditioned on “La Banda,” a Spanish-language reality TV series designed to assemble the next great Latin boy band.

To honor his Mexican roots, 16-year-old Joel Deleōn, then known as Joel Pimentel, belted out the Manuel Bonilla classic “Eran Cien Ovejas” before a formidable panel of judges: ex-Menudo member and global pop icon Ricky Martin, as well as the Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz, and Italian diva Laura Pausini. In the middle of his audition, Pausini asked for a different song selection — which led Deleōn to sing Ed Sheeran’s “I See Fire,” which helped him move forward in the competition.

“It’s crazy to think that it

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