COALVILLE — Summit County leaders are apologizing for the way the national anthem was sung before the demolition derby this past weekend.
Summit County manager Tom Fisher says complaints started to come in during the fair, and then via email, phone and social media all weekend. He said the rendition of the national anthem by Jennie Gautney of Francis, Utah, was not up to their standards.
“I don’t have any knowledge of what caused the performance to be in the state it was,” he said.
Gautney appeared to be slurring and forgetting the words. Some in the crowd laughed, but by the end, many were singing with her as if to help her.
A video of the performance is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRHARguefZo
Fisher said the singer has performed fine in the past. He says in the future, singers will be escorted early into the venue where they can do soundchecks and make sure everything is working. He says the upcoming rodeo nights of the Summit County Fair will have better performances of the national anthem.