Bloomington choir teacher Destinee Feliciano wins 2024 White Sox National Anthem contest

CHICAGO – The Chicago White Sox have announced Bloomington resident and longtime White Sox fan Destinee Feliciano as the winner of the organization’s recent National Anthem Contest.

Feliciano, a 25-year-old music and choir teacher who is in the process of recording her first EP, titled “Stories I’m Ready to Tell,” wowed contest judges during her final-round audition at Guaranteed Rate Field late last week. Her star-spangled performance earned her a nearly perfect score from the contest’s four judges, as well as the opportunity to perform ahead of the White Sox evening game on Tuesday, September 10 vs. Cleveland at 6:40 p.m. CT.

“Singing the national anthem for the White Sox has been on my bucket list since I was a kid,” exclaimed Feliciano. “Little Destinee would be jumping up and down screaming if she knew this actually was in her future. I am ecstatic to have won the contest and cannot wait to sing for fans on September 10.”

Selected from an incredibly talented finalist group, Feliciano learned the news of her grand-prize performance following a congratulatory video call with contest judge and American Idol, Season 6 contestant Gina Glocksen-Ruzicka. This will be her second time singing the National Anthem for White Sox fans – and first as a solo artist – after having performed a rendition of the song with an acapella group in 2019.

Following hundreds of fan submissions, the White Sox selected a small group of seven finalists for live, in-person auditions at the ballpark in early August. Individuals performed in front of Hall of Fame great and six-time MLB All-Star Harold Baines, NBC 5 Chicago Emmy-nominated news anchor and singer/songwriter Evrod Cassimy, trilingual pop and R&B artist Aya Ito and Sox anthem regular Glocksen-Ruzicka. Judges scored finalists on their overall performance, including categories such as vocal quality, projection, expression and emotion.

For more information, visit whitesox.com/anthem.