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Oklahoma Tourism, and partners Brand USA and United Airlines, have been on the lookout for talented travel industry professionals to sing to a live audience during a celebration event to mark the return of travel to the USA, which will take place in line with the 2 year anniversary of borders closures. #OKHereWeGo.
Members of our travel community across Australia and New Zealand – from agents to wholesale staff and travel media – sent in creative and impressive song renditions from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic musical, OKLAHOMA! as part of an audition video, with finalists going through to sing in front of a live audience in Sydney for the chance to win a trip for two to the state of Oklahoma.
An independent judging panel whittled the audition entries down to five stellar acts, who will all go through to the final:
Lauren Oxenham from Adventure World Travel stunned judges with her version of All Er Nuthin’ in this audition video.
Marina Wood from Flight Centre donned a cowboy hat and sang a compelling version of I Cain’t Say No, video here.
Steve Collins of Tellmewhere2go.com will be flying in from Perth for the chance to sing his way to Kansas City after his rendition of the city’s own song from the musical, Kansas City. Video here.
Out and About with Kids Magazine publisher, Elisa Elwin, impressed judges with her vocal range while singing I Cain’t Say No. Watch her audition here.
We cain’t say no to Clinton Griffiths from Globus, who sang this song title with enthusiasm and a stage-ready voice. Click here to see his audition.
Oklahoma Tourism also gave special recognition to Auckland-based entrant, Eddie Courtois from Flight Centre, who made it to the finalist stage with his moving performance of Pore Jud is Daid however is unable to travel for the event. Eddy received a $100 gift voucher as the best audition of the week. You can see his performance here.
Audition videos received proved how resilient and talented our tourism industry community is in the face of the pandemic as many of us have had to broaden our skills or turn to some of our other passions and talents to ride the COVID wave.
The Sydney-based event will take place on 18 March – marking two years since international travel came to an abrupt halt – with the five finalists receiving star treatment as they bring some of the musical’s renowned songs to life. They will receive two nights in a hotel and time with a professional vocal coach ahead of the performance, and make-up and costume support.
During the event, one of the lucky performers will also be chosen (based on a panel of industry leaders and the audience) to WIN a Grand Prize of 2 x Return Economy Class Tickets flying United Airlines from either Sydney or Melbourne to the USA, where they’ll experience the best of Oklahoma.
For more information on Oklahoma, including training webinars and the Brand USA Discovery Badge, visit here: https://www.linkdtourism.com/traveloklahoma/