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Junior Fair Queen wins first place in Bill Riley Talent Show
Delaney Anderson and Rellana Van Deuren will perform at the Bill Riley Talent Show for the Iowa State Fair next month
MT. PLEASANT — The newest Henry County Fair Junior Queen Delaney Anderson along with 17-year-old Rellana Van Deuren will head to the Iowa State Fair next month to compete in the Bill Riley Talent Show following compelling performances Thursday night.
Anderson took to the stage as the ninth act of 11 in the Sprouts category of the contest and sang an a cappella version of “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
According to Anderson, she grew up hearing the song and it is among one of her favorites.
“I think my mom has video of me singing it when I was like three,” she said.
According to first-time judge Makenzie Kauffman, the new vocal director for Mt. Pleasant High School, many parts of Anderson’s performance stood out.
Longtime talent show judge Mark Kimzey expressed how impressed he was that 12-year-old Anderson had such a solid voice at her age.
“She has really great presence,” Kauffman said. “She has really good pitch center, and she can do some little trills that are really actually kind of hard to do and she makes it sound so easy.”
During Anderson’s performance, a nearby car alarm began to go off, but that did not derail her performance of the song she knows so well.
“A car alarm was going off and she was up there like nothing was happening,” Kauffman said.
“When you sing a cappella and you stay on pitch, that is hard when you have the horn going off on that car,” Kimzey said.
Through her ability to stay on pitch and remained unbothered by outside distractions, Anderson will represent the Henry County Fair as a Sprout contestant at the State Fair in August.
The senior category of the Bill Riley Talent Show featured just four contestants, but Van Dueren’s lyrical dance solo stood out enough to earn her a spot at the Iowa State Fair.
“She was really technically sound and doing some movement tricks that are tough and doing them well,” Kauffman explained. “She had a really engaging performance like you don't want to look down to write your notes because she kind of pulled you in.”
Van Deuren, a senior from Mt. Pleasant, says her favorite part of this dance number are all the beautiful turns.
As far as winning and moving forward, Van Deuren said, “It feels scary, but good,” with a nervous giggle.
Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com
