By Cari Griggs, Staff Writer
Brittany Jo Bisel didn’t intend to enter the competition, but registered after some coaxing from her father. She had won a state singing title at the Oklahoma State Fair the past two years. She didn’t expect to win again. “I didn’t think they would allow that, because there are politics involved,” she said.
The mass communications sophomore sang in, and won, the State Finals of The Colgate Country Showdown at the Oklahoma State Fair on Thursday. She sang “Unchained Melody,” by Lee Ann Rimes, and “Fire,” an original song that she wrote.
Bisel said though she’s excited to win the state competition for the third time, she dreads the 12-hour drive to regionals in New Mexico.
“My dad said ‘please do it one more time, if you win we’ll fly to regionals,’” she said. “And I won, so we’re flying.”
Rain complicated the competition this year. The main stage at the fair grounds does not have a covered audience, so the judges were sitting on the stage, Bisel said.
“They were about 5 feet away from me,” she said. “I didn’t know whether I should make eye contact or not and it was a little awkward, but I just went for it.”
Bisel also won a $1,000 cash prize for her 1st place win. That was not her favorite part though.
“I had everyone from my Gamma Phi sisters to my Grandpa to my friends and family there watching,” she said. “I just had so many loved ones there who sat in the rain and watched me, and it made it really special.”
State contestants in the The Colgate Country Showdown must win at the local level in a contest put on by radio stations. Oftentimes contestants send in a tape, and then are selected for the local competition. Winners from the local competition go to state. The winner of state competition goes to a regional competition, where they compete against winners from four or five other states. From regionals, the winner will compete in the national competition where they could win $100,000.
