Elkhorn Valley Senior To Perform At Antelope County Fair

Mackenzie Wiseman, a senior at Elkhorn Valley, will sing the National Anthem on Friday before Joe Nichols takes the stage at the Antelope County Fair. It's the fourth time in five years the 17-year-old sang at the fair.

Mackenzie Wiseman can't help but laugh about her singing anxiety.

She's so nervous before stepping on stage that she can hardly breathe and has a tight grip on her mom's hand. But once the first note is released, her nerves calm and the Elkhorn Valley senior is at home on stage.

And tonight, it's a pretty big stage. 

The 17-year-old will sing the National Anthem in front of 3,250 people prior to the sold-out Joe Nichols concert at the Antelope County Fair. It's the fourth time in five years she's sang at the fair. She was out of town last year and was unable to attend.

"My singing has really changed since that first time," said Wiseman, who is the daughter of Josh and Diane Wiseman of Oakdale. "I was singing to my mom recently, and she said she couldn't believe how much I've improved."

Wiseman, who says neither of her parents sings, credits her improvement on dedicating so much time to her love of performing. She's involved in show choir and band and just spent a week at the Young Americans summer camp in Fremont, where she signed up to audition to join the group. 

The Young Americans is a group that travels nationwide to schools working with students on singing, dancing and performing. They held camps in Tilden, O'Neill and Norfolk last year, and Wiseman attended every one.

"It's so much fun, and it does so much for confidence," she said. "It's not easy performing, but there, you're with a lot of people going through the same thing. Everyone understands what everyone is going through."

Wiseman, who enjoys singing all music from Italian opera to hip hop, has learned to face her anxiety fears head on. While the minutes before going on stage are nerve-wracking, once she's actually performing, everything is fine. 

"I focus on one spot, especially at the beginning of the song," she said. "By the end, I'm comfortable in my own skin. There's a lot of things to look at during the song, so it helps to let my mind wander and not focus on perfection."

After the fair, Wiseman will shift her focus to starting her final year of high school. While some friends already have senioritis, Wiseman is a little more sentimental about things. At the top of her to-do list this year is singing the national anthem at Elkhorn Valley as a soloist.

But what the future holds after graduation is a little up in the air at this point. A lot, she said, depends on how well she auditioned for the Young Americans. If that falls through, Wiseman said she wants to study to become a nurse practitioner.

"Different directions, aren't they," Wiseman said with a laugh. "It's just that I don't want to teach choir. I would rather pursue music in a way that inspires. I don't want to tell people how to do things. I want them to develop through inspiration."