Two Houston-area youngsters stole the show in the Dynamo first-ever "Let Your Voice Be Heard" contest Saturday, tying to win the competition for the right to sing the National Anthem at a Dynamo game this season.
13-year-old Amber Holcomb, a seventh-grader at Drew Academy in Houston, and 11-year-old Paulina Cerrilla, who attends Colony Meadows Elementary in Sugarland, won the hearts of judges and fans at the Bayou City Art Festival. Holcomb and Cerrilla were voted a tie in the live competition ahead of a host of other entrants. The two girls sang in the festival's Broadway Cafe before a large group of fans and four judges including Dynamo President Oliver Luck, Mark Wiggins from "The Buzz," Hunter Greene ("Flava Flip") from KHMX 96.5 and Nathan Looney, entertainment director of Sherlock's Baker Street Pub.
Cerrilla was beaming, and visibly shaking, after hearing the outcome.
"This is great. It's not every day you can win a competition like this," said Cerrilla. When asked how she would feel about singing in front of a potentially-packed house at Robertson Stadium, Paulina said, "20,000 glorious people? The more the better!"
Holcomb found out she had won her share of the competition while backstage preparing for a performance of Playhouse 1960's "Beauty and the Beast." Holcomb sang at the Dynamo competition, then immediately left to appear in her role at the Playhouse. She was told of the outcome by cell phone moments before her scene.
"I was so excited to hear the news. What a way to find out!"
Amber probably won't be too nervous about her upcoming performance. She has performed the anthem at a Houston Comets game, and has a prior appearance at Showtime at the Apollo in Harlem, New York.
Holcomb and Cerrilla will appear at separate Dynamo games this season, with their anthem dates yet to be determined.
