After skipping last year due to the pandemic, national anthem auditions were back on Tuesday at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie.
"I was a little bit nervous," said 14-year old Miley Henderson of Edgewood. "I've never done anything like this."
Open call auditions started at 11:30 a.m. as singers tried out for 45 slots to perform the national anthem at the races.
"I used to sing a lot whenever I was little," said 12-year old Rylie Riski of North Richland Hills. "I guess I just kind of came out like that."
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Riski's mother said her daughter had been singing as long as she could talk.
"I think that we all need a little bit of hope," Jennifer Riski said. "And a 12-year old singing the national anthem -- that's hope!"
Each singer had two minutes to sing the Star-Spangled Banner acapella. Thirty-four-year-old Jade Mays of Arlington has sung at the park before, and hoped to again.
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"The exhilaration that I get performing in front of people, it's something I thrive off. of. It's been a long time because of the pandemic," Mays said. "This just means that we are on the horizon of things kind of going back to what the new normal will be."
