Denise Craig put her music education degree on hold to raise her family. But this summer, the 40-year-old mother of four is taking a chance on the Great New York State Fair’s Star Spangled Challenge.
Contestants have submitted videos of themselves singing or performing instrumentally “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and Facebook users can submit one vote per hour until midnight Aug. 7. Twelve winners will be chosen to perform the national anthem each day at the fair, which takes place Aug. 27 through Sept. 7.
Craig said she discovered the contest through a friend who had heard about it on the radio.
“A friend of mine who I’ve known for about 14 years said to me, ‘You’ve got to try out,’” Craig said. “The funny thing is she doesn’t even have Facebook, so she hasn’t been able to vote for me at all.”
Craig, a classically trained opera singer who teaches beginning voice and piano at her home, decided it was now or never.
“I told my friends and my husband that if I lose I’m never going try that again,” she said. “If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.”
She asked her husband to record her performance and they submitted her first try to the contest.
“We took the first take,” she said. I didn’t want to mess with anything. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”
Craig earned her bachelor’s degree in music education from Grove City College in Pennsylvania. While she hit pause on pursuing a graduate degree, she’s still got the teaching bug. She has a handful of piano and vocal students at her home studio and she has taught at Word of Life Christian Academy in Baldwinsville and Abundant Life Academy.
“I think it would be a wonderful experience, never having sung the national anthem at a venue,” she said. “I’ve sung opera in front of 900 people at college but I’ve never sung ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’”
Since entering the contest, Craig has hovered around the top 12 competitors. She was in seventh place July 25.
“At one point, I dipped down to no. 13 and I thought about giving up,” she said.
Craig decided she didn’t want to disappoint the friends, family and even strangers who have voted for her more than 5,600 times, so she kept going. With her constant campaign for votes, Craig worried she was being annoying.
“We pulled in 800 votes yesterday and 700 votes the day before,” she said July 23. “We’re shooting for 800 or 900 today and we’re really bugging people now.”
Craig said she’s posted links to the contest all over her personal Facebook page, her high school’s Facebook page and on homeschooling websites where she is a member. A friend from her hometown of Tamaqua, Penn., even posted about Craig’s quest on a local website.
“One friend went to Hershey Park and was voting all day while waiting in line. Another friend set up timers all around her house,” she said. “I’ve seen so many people [saying], ‘Vote for Denise.’ They’re really trying to help big time. It’s been really neat to see.”
To vote for Denise Craig, visit bit.ly/1Cw0aFH. You can vote once per hour until midnight Aug. 7.
