Missouri State Fair Homegrown Singer Competition, Preliminary Round (August 11, 2019)
It rained most of the morning and into the beginning of the afternoon. After that the sun came out and the oppressive mugginess that is Missouri summertime reared its ugly head. We also had to park in one of the most remote spots on the fairgrounds so it took us about 15 minutes to even get to the gate. To say that we were sweating buckets by the time we reached the entrance is an understatement.
There were eight of us in this round of competition, and I was the first one slated to perform. Due to time constraints they cut us all to one song each, so I went with “Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin.
During the competition there was a tractor pull going on in the Pepsi Grandstand next door, and each singer was subjected to the rev of at least one tractor motor. The fact that none of us got flustered by that shows you how much the stage and the audience are in our personal bubble – anything outside of that we pay absolutely no attention to.
I am happy to announce that I am moving on to the Semifinal Round scheduled for this Thursday at 4pm. There will be six of us performing (hopefully) two songs for your consideration. I hope to see you there!
