May 9

Written by: Iowa Games
Monday, May 09, 2011 2:51 PM 

The inaugural Iowa Games National Anthem competition ended today. The competition was held to select a singer for the Opening Ceremony of the 25^th Anniversary Summer Iowa Games powered by the Iowa Food & Family Project. The Summer Iowa Games Opening Ceremony will be held on July 15, 2011 in Jack Trice Stadium in Ames.

The Iowa Games is proud to announce Derrick Wiley, Connor Girkin and Grant Luther from the group “The 3 from Waukee” as the 2011 National Anthem competition winners. The 3 from Waukee will sing the National Anthem at the 2011 Summer Iowa Games and also have the opportunity to perform the National Anthem at an Iowa Cubs game in August.

Over 30 performers and groups from around the state submitted videos of themselves singing the National Anthem for the competition. A judging panel narrowed this pool of videos down to five videos. These videos were posted on the Iowa Sports Foundation Facebook page and fans were encouraged to ‘like’ the videos or complete a survey link to vote for their favorite performer(s). The top videos featured:

The 3 from Waukee, Waukee

Amber Smit, Sheldon

Chelsy Suddendorf, Monona

Cortney Perrin, Osage

Vocal Varietas (Ensemble from Marion High School), Marion

The voting polls were open from April 25-May 1 at which point the winner was determined based on the combination of Facebook ‘likes’ on their video and survey votes they received. Over 400 Facebook fans liked these videos and 18,000 survey votes were made.

“It was great to see communities rally behind their finalist and show support through voting and posting encouraging comments on Facebook,” commented Iowa Sports Foundation Executive Director Jim Hallihan.