Sand Springs Sings: Mayor, Shriver, and Swan advance to finals
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The inaugural Sand Springs Sings vocal competition is shaping up to be a serious lesson in girl power.
Alohilani Mayor, Gracee Shriver, and Bryanna Swan took the top three spots at the September 4th semifinal competition and will advance to the finals in November.
The concert series is hosted by the Sand Springs Small Business Coalition in the heart of the historic downtown Triangle District.
Mayor, 21, is a Hawaiian native living in Tulsa. She took top prize with a powerful rendition of Mack Gordon and Harry Warren's "At Last," a song made famous by Etta James in 1960.
Shriver, a fifteen-year old rising star from Owasso, played acoustic guitar and sang "Two Sparrows in a Hurricane," written by Mark Alan Springer and recorded by Tanya Tucker. Shriver has been performing live since she was eleven years old and has nearly 5,000 followers on her Facebook page.
Swan, also fifteen, visited from Pawhuska to finish third with a cover of "Cry Pretty" by Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood.
Several Sandites competed in the event but failed to advance. Kristin Shipley, 16, adapted Linkin Park's "Invisible" for the ukulele. Kitty Fueshko, a Clyde Boyd Middle School math teacher, sang "God Bless the USA." Troy Dixon, a CPHS Class of 2003 graduate and National Guardsman, sang "Dream the Impossible Dream" while dressed in uniform.
Other competitors were George Allen (61, Sand Springs), Ali Ellison (19, Cleveland), Jesse Kennard (Cleveland), Roger Rister (Glenpool), and Mylin Gipson (Tulsa).
Mayor, Shriver, and Swan will join Dennis Smith (Sand Springs), Heather Rogers (Sand Springs), and Kimberly Bullard (Tulsa) in the finals on Small Business Saturday, November 24. One final preliminary will be held on Tuesday, October 2nd.
