Star-spangled Success:
New Jersey Native Wins a Chance to Shine
Kory Leigh Glattman missed the call. When Macy’s phoned to tell her she had been selected to sing the national anthem for this year’s Fourth of July fireworks show, she was busy and didn’t pick up the phone. “They didn’t tell me over voice mail, so I called back and even then they didn’t tell me right away,” the singer explains. “I thought it was just details for the finalists. They said, ‘We’re going over a few things, and oh, I just want to tell you, you’re the winner.’ I was shocked.”
Macy’s launched the Star-Spangled Sing-Off last winter, asking people to post audition videos of themselves singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” on their Facebook page. The public voted on their favorites, and then the Macy’s Fourth of July production team made the final decision from a field of 10 finalists. “I heard about the contest from one of my best friends, who supports everything I do,” says Glattman, 23. “My video was a simple rendition; I played it close and honest, a simple piano and vocal.”
She had previously auditioned for “American Idol” and “The Voice.” “They told me, ‘You’re a great singer. We’re just not looking for this right now,’” Glattman remembers. (Her song was “If You Don’t Wanna Love Me,” by James Morrison.)
“She’s just super-talented,” says Wesley Whatley, creative director for Macy’s Fireworks and one of the contest masterminds. “She went to Berklee College of Music in Boston, and she has this soulful, beautiful voice. We created a track just for her.”
The fireworks are carefully choreographed and precisely timed to each song in the Fourth of July playlist, which makes live performance during the show impossible. Glattman went into the studio to record the version of the national anthem that will begin the finale sequence on the Fourth. She also got a little help while in the studio.
“We invited our good friend Miss America to mentor Kory,” says Whatley. “Laura Kaeppeler, the current Miss America, is a classically trained vocalist.”
Glattman says the recording is influenced by Kaeppeler’s classical approach but combined with her own more contemporary sound. “She was awesome,” Glattman says. “She gave me tips from her point of view, and she’s just really sweet and down to earth.”
As for the arrangement she recorded, which we’ll all get to hear on Independence Day, Glattman says, “It’s different. It’s very big and moving. I hope it moves people — my goal is to sing a national anthem that makes everybody proud.”
The exposure from the Sing-Off has opened a number of professional doors, says Glattman, who counts Nat King Cole, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Christina Aguliera and Etta James among her influences. She’s working on a few original tracks she hopes to release later this year. “I hope to move to the city soon, or to L.A. — wherever the music takes me, ” the New Jersey native says. “If I moved to L.A. though, my mom would be devastated, as would my grandma. I think they’d move with me.”
An avid cook and Food Network fan, Glattman loves to go out dancing and spend mellow nights at home at her parents’ house with friends. Family time is also essential. She has two older brothers who live in New York and the entire tight-knit clan will be joining her to view the fireworks on the Fourth. Although she does have a gig before the show: Glattman and Kaeppeler will be singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a Mets game on the Fourth before heading toward the Hudson River. “It’s the best display of fireworks I’ll ever see,” says Glattman. “And I’ll be with my family, which makes it even more amazing.”
For a free download of the track Kory Leigh Glattman recorded for Macy’s, visit www.macys.com/fireworks or download Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks smartphone app.