She’s six years old, about three feet tall with eyes that sparkle and a grin that would light up the darkest room.
Corbin’s Nancy Jane Jackson has been chosen to sing the national anthem at the May 31 Lexington Legends baseball game.
It won’t be her first public performance — she’s sung solos, duets, trios with her family and with the children’s choirs at Immanuel Baptist Church.
She’s even sung The National Anthem at a Corbin football game.
And that made her father, Brent Jackson, a Corbin High football coach, think she might be chosen to sing for The Legends. He had seen information about it on Lexington television.
On Feb. 14 she auditioned at Fayette Mall with more than 300 others who wanted the chance to sing the anthem.
“We filled out an application and they gave me a call,” her mother, Jenni Lou, said. “We drove to Lexington and she auditioned. It was a big stage and she got up there and sang in front of the whole crowd in front of three judges. About a month later they contacted us that she had been chosen to sing.”
Of the children who also auditioned, Nancy Jane was probably one of the youngest, Jenni said.
But there were all ages from children, and even adults, groups and duets.
Nancy Jane said she had sung The National Anthem, “Only at the little places, not like the big places.”
“We’ve been practicing it since she was little. She sings it every day with the intercom at her school,” Jenni said. “She sings it every day with her class.”
“So that’s how I practice,” Nancy Jane said.
Asked why The National Anthem is sung, she answered, “It’s to give thanks to our country. We sing for our country and our freedom. And I think that’s all I know.”
And how does she feel about being chosen to sing for The Legends?
“I’m really excited and that I hope I do good,” Nancy Jane said. “It will just make me really happy after I do it. Before I tried (at the audition) I told my mommy that I wanted to go home. But then it was my turn right after I said that. So I just went up there and I tried my best, and I did it.”
She started in the children’s choir when she was five but has been singing at church since she was three.
“She’s sung with Mommy,” said Jenni. “We’ve done duets together.”
“The songs I mostly know are Jesus songs,” Nancy Jane said, and added, “I always wanted to play the piano really good and sing together, and that’s about it, I think.”
She started playing the piano when she was four.
Asked if she wants to be a professional singer when she grows up she said, “Yeah, I want to be a doctor and I want to be a lot of things when I grow up.”
And how does she plan to rehearse for her performance in May?
“I’m going to keep doing it with my school and going to practice with Mommy and my family and I’ll just try my best when it comes, and that’s it,” she said.
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Anyone interested in attending the Sunday afternoon, May 31, game as part of Nancy Jane’s group can contact Luke Kuboushek, Assistant General Manager, by phone at 859-422-7857 or by email at lkuboushek@lexingtonlegends.com at least 48 hours before game day. The Legends will be playing the Augusta Greenjackets at 2:05 p.m.
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