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Frontrunner Emerges In State Song Contest

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By GRETCHEN PARKER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 7, 2008

TAMPA - Just Sing, Florida! organizers are counting about 6,800 Internet votes cast so far for the would-be new state song.

One nominee is way out in front: "Florida — Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky" has won about twice as many fans as the next runner-up, the more hymn-like "Florida, My Home." The third finalist, "My Florida Home," is in a distant third place, organizers said.

The winning song will be written into legislation for lawmakers to consider this year. To vote, go to www.justsingflorida.org.

Voting closes at midnight Thursday. The winning tune will be announced Friday in Tampa, when it is performed by King High School's premier choral group, which calls itself Pride.

Voting, which opened in mid-December, has slowed to about 100 ballots being cast a day, said Rick Bowen, an owner of Agile Communications Group of Tampa, which is running the Web site for free.

A panel made up mostly of music educators gleaned the three nominees from 243 entries submitted by songwriters across the state.

The finalists have been criticized for sounding too somber. But Talana Hamm, director of Pride, thinks her students' performance will breathe life into the music that doesn't come across in the studio recordings on the Just Sing, Florida! site.

"They bring such a positive energy to these songs," she said. "It's just such a different dynamic than sitting by yourself in a studio."

The contest is part of a push to retire Florida's current song, known as "Swanee River," because of its racial undertones.

Reporter Gretchen Parker can be reached at gparker@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7562.

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