Anderson Explodes! selects anthem singer, hands out cash prizes

Five finalists including a mother-daughter duo competed for a chance to sing the national anthem at the Anderson Explodes! fireworks show July 3 on the grounds of the Shasta District Fair.

A 1999 graduate of Anderson Union High School, Anna Vietti was the hometown favorite, but the panel of five judges gave the ultimate nod to nine-year-old Courtney Blanc, a fourth-grader at Pacheco Elementary School.

As fans of Country artists The Judds, Tasha and Shelby Hepburn of Redding gave it their best shot, as did last year's winner of the Shasta Idol contest, Mike Vasquez of Redding, who most recently sang the national anthem during the recently-completed Redding Rodeo.

Rounding out the field of contestants was 17-year-old Coral Martinez of Red Bluff.

Five judges, including Mike Powell of Palo Cedro, Nancy Dutton of Anderson and Redding residents Kim Norden, Trish Spinner and Hal Davis rated each singer's performance on a 1 to 10 scale in each of three areas: stage presence, vocal quality and personal style.

Courtney Blanc, who told the audience she loves dancing and mentioned to the Valley Post that someday she hopes to perform in a Broadway production of "Wicked," was an immediate crowd favorite who also stole the hearts of several judges to win the contest.

"Her stage presence is really strong. She really sparkles when she is up there," judge Trish Spinner said of Courtney, who has taken private vocal lessons from Spinner since November.

Judge Nancy Dutton, who teaches music at Anderson Union High School, also shared her reaction to Courtney's performance.

"She is very confident and poised on stage. Her voice is really starting to develop and she is as cute as a button," Dutton said.

Organizers sold 300 tickets at $100 each, some to groups, to pay for the $15,000 in cash prizes handed out during a fundraising dinner held Friday, May 30, in conjunction with the annual anthem contest.

The top prize -- a check for $10,000 -- will be split unequally to three people. Paul Barth will get $5,000 since he put up half ot he ticket price, while Virginia Reeter and Chris Zwaga will each receive $2,500 since they equally split the other half of the ticket's cost.

A separate 50/50 contest, with half of the proceeds going towards the fireworks show, yielded $544 for Seth Hinton of Anderson Athletic Club. Hinton generously donated $100 of his cash award back to the fireworks fundraiser, said Corky Keenan, who was in charge of ticket sales.

"I was really delighted we sold all 300 of our $100 tickets. As of Wednesday (May 27), we had only sold 170 and they sold another 87 tickets on Thursday (May 28) so we only had 53 to sell tonight at the door," Keenan said.

Those who didn't purchase the $100 tickets for a chance to win the $10,000 prize could still pay $10 to attend the fundraising dinner of tri-tip, baked beans, salad, garlic bread and cake prepared by AUHS FFA instructors George and Julie Wold and their FFA student servers.

Members of the Anderson Rotary Club also helped with the barbecue chores, Wold said.

After expenses, all proceeds will be used to finance the community's nearly $35,000 fireworks display July 3 at the Shasta District Fair grounds.