The Nogales International erroneously reported in Friday’s edition when Jesus Rafael Lopez, 6, “Compita Jesito” will appear on the internationally televised show, “Cristina.”

Jesus Rafael Lopez, 6, a student at A.J. Mitchell Elementary School in Nogales, is scheduled to be featured tonight on the internationally televised Cristina Saralegui program. Photo / William Wilczewski

Watch the program on Monday at 7 p.m. on Channel 402 for Direct TV subscribers. For Mediacom subscribers, it will be on Univision (Channel 96). Dish Network subscribers can see it on Channel 827. Mediacom and Dish Network subscribers should contact their respective companies for times.

Tune in and hear this boy’s pipes as he belts out a favorite Nortena song and is joined by a surprise guest.

Valentin Elizalde, a.k.a “El Gallo de Oro,” or the golden rooster, was killed in 2006 at the age of 27. Fans of the Sonoran and his Norteno genre music were crushed.

One was Jesus Rafael Lopez, a.k.a. “Compita Jesito,” who was about three years old at the time and did not understand why his idol was gunned down allegedly in response to his lyrical commentary about Los Zetas, a mercenary force employed in the Mexican drug trade.

But as Maya Angelou put it, “A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”

At that age, this bird was already doing covers by Elizalde and other popular songs with his dad Rafael Lopez’s banda group, “Contagio Norteno.” There are two YouTube videos of Jesito’s performances as well as his recording of a song played during an early-morning children’s radio program in Nogales, Sonora.

Resilient as young children are, Jesito moved on after Elizalde’s death. He is now a fan of Elizalde’s brother, Jesus “El Flaco” Elizalde, who also has made it big in the music business, including a hit on the Billboard charts.

“Since Valentin died, now I have become a fan of El Flaco,” said the spry six-year-old.

One day, while surfing the Internet, Rafael and his wife Angelica came across the Web site of Latin talk show program, “Cristina.” Saralegui, the host, features a program called “Dreaming with You,” in which people from around the world submit fantasies they would like to see come true for others.

They knew it was a long shot, but Jesito’s mom and dad figured they had nothing to lose by submitting their boy’s dream. It was to get to meet “El Flaco” one day whenever he was playing nearby venues in Tucson or Phoenix.

“Of all the requests that she probably receives we never thought we had a chance,” Rafael Lopez said. But soon, they heard back from program organizers. The family would have to travel to Miami, Fla., for a pre-recording for tonight’s program.

Ostensibly Jesito was to perform live with a band for the program. He was doing just that, decked out in his finest cowboy outfit when Saralegui interrupted the song by “El Flaco,” and called in the boy’s idol to sing along with him on stage.

Recalling the surprise during an interview with the Nogales International, Jesito exclaimed, “He grabbed me by the arms!”

A trailer for the program described the scene on stage: “The youngster could not believe his eyes and the emotion expressed by him and his family was moving for everyone.”

On Tuesday, Jesito, was joined at the NI offices by his parents and his 13-year-old sister, Miriam, who admits she does not posses her brother’s singing talents, but one day plans to be his manager.