New Haven Independent

Kids under the age of 12 were invited to the Shubert Theater Wednesday to audition to compete to become one of seven chosen to sing “America the Beautiful” at the tournament, which begins on Aug. 15. Winners will be announced on Aug. 11.

One kid will sing on each of the tournament’s six nights, with the seventh winner taking his or her turn at the women’s afternoon final on Aug. 23. All contestants received free tickets to the tournament.

The event was modeled on a similar competition run by the United States Tennis Association in New York for the US Open. Beginning last year, USTA started holding open casting calls for young singers at Radio City Music Hall to select a slate of anthem singers for the two-week event.

The casting call was from 4 to 8 p.m., but eager singers, like 11-year-old Andrew Shipman, were outside the theater with their parents as early as 2. By 5:30, the organizers had already registered 70 kids.

Pilot Pen Director Anne Worcester said she reached out to families throughout the tri-state area through music schools, music camps, girl scouts, boy scouts, boys and girls clubs, and locally through the Neighborhood Music School, the Arts Council, and other groups. “We’re just really proud to showcase our local talent,” she said.

Her team worked closely with USTA to hammer out the logistics and get the event off the ground. Francene Costello, assistant manager for entertainment at USTA, who organized the Radio City auditions and a similar event at the Davis Cup in Portland last fall, was on-site on Wednesday. “It looks like we’re taking this on the road,” she said.

The contestants were evaluated by a rotating panel of three judges, including Cindy Claire, executive director of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, radio station KC101’s Ross Cooper, and Wanita “D Woods” Widgette from the pop group Danity Kane (pictured).

Unlike the Idol judges, the panel at the Shubert had nothing but support and praise for their auditioners. “We’ve got some really, really great talent here,” D Woods said. “Some of them are a little bit nervous, but we’re going to try to make them feel comfortable so they can shine, and do what they do the best.”