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Wanted: Voters For State Song Contest

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By GRETCHEN PARKER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 8, 2008

TAMPA - Just Sing, Florida! is singing, but organizers wish more people would tune in to listen.

So far they've counted about 6,800 votes, cast via the Internet, for the would-be new state song. Contest voting opened in mid-December and closes at midnight Thursday.

One nominee is way out in front. "Florida - Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky," penned by a Pompano Beach elementary schoolteacher, 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, organizers said.

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

"I was most definitely hoping there would be more votes," said Rick Bowen, an owner of Agile Communications Group of Tampa, which is running the Web site for free. About 100 votes are coming in a day, he said.

The winning tune will be announced in a news conference at the Tampa Convention Center on Friday, when it will be performed by King High School's premier choral group, which calls itself Pride.

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

Judges said they were looking for songs suitable for state ceremonies, but the finalists they chose have been criticized for sounding too somber and too much like hymns.

Talana Hamm, director of Pride, said she agreed with the critics until she heard her young chorus perform them. Her students are practicing all three, so they will be prepared to sing the one that comes out on top.

Hamm thinks Pride's performance will breathe life into the music that doesn't come across in the studio recordings on the Just Sing, Florida! site. The emotion of the young voices will "take some of the sterility out of how the recordings sound," she said.

What comes out is more appealing than the canned sound of a studio version, she said.

"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 by Sen. Anthony Hill, D-Jacksonville, and Rep. Ed Homan, R-Tampa, to retire Florida's current song, known as "Swanee River," because of its racial undertones.

Organizers are aware of the critics who say Florida should keep "Swanee River." One Web site, www.taxteaparty.com, is run by Tallahassee lawyer Pace Allen and invites voters to cast ballots for other songs, including different versions of "Swanee River."

"The people who don't want the song to change have certainly made themselves known," said James Perry, executive director of the Florida Music Educators' Association, which organized the contest. "There is that group that really likes the status quo." The real name of the state's current song is "Old Folks at Home," and it's one of the most recognizable tunes in the world, but critics decry it for its loving portrayal of plantation life and references to "darkeys."

Gov. Charlie Crist and former Gov. Jeb Bush kept it out of state ceremonies, and Crist has said he supports the effort to find a more inclusive anthem for Florida.

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

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