COUNTRY STRONG Singing Challenge Find Its St. Louis Winner, Sean Hileman!

It was a frigid Saturday afternoon (December 4th) at the Pro Bass Shop on St. Charles, MO, but spirits were high as many contestants competed for a spot in Country Music Television and Sony Pictures National Singing Challenge on behalf of the new film, COUNTRY STRONG, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw.

Contestants were asked to sing a 60 second a Capella version of either the new hit song, COUNTRY STRONG or SILVER WINGS, with the winner receiving $500 and a chance to compete for a VIP trip to Nashville, a meeting with a Sony Music exec and a spot on CMT.

On hand were contest judges Mason and Remy from 93.7 the Bull’s Morning Show and Rich Dalton, Pro Bass Operations Manager.

Many singers showed up to belt out the songs and though nerves were high, everyone’s performances were Country Strong.

Click on thumbnail below for larger picture of each contestant.

The judges judged the performances based on the Judging Criteria (Execution, Style and Originality) and selected a Finalist and Runner-Up from Saturday’s event.

Ultimately Sean Hileman of Edwardsville, IL was chosen as the St. Louis finalist.

Employed as a concrete finisher and wedding singer, the Country Strong Challenge winner said he crammed for the contest as he only heard about it on the day before. After his victory, Hileman said, “I may not show it, but on the inside I’m screaming!”

Here’s the winner’s performance.

So ca’mon St. Louis, visit CMT’s site HERE, vote once a day and let’s send Sean Hileman to Nashville!

Head over to the site and *Watch the performances below and vote for who you think is best. Click on any of the thumbnails to watch the fullscreen video. To vote, click on the “Vote for this Video” button within the fullscreen video. Winner will be announced on Dec. 17*

Voters may log on to the Contest Site and vote for the one performance they determine to be the best among the Taped Performances posted on the Contest Site. When Taped Performances are posted on the Contest Site, voting will begin at 12:00 noon ET on December 10, 2010 and end at 12:01 p.m. ET on December 16, 2010. THERE IS NO LIMIT ON HOW MANY TIMES VOTERS CAN VOTE. At the end, the eligible Entrant whose Taped Performance was the highest vote getter will be declared the Contest’s Grand Prize Winner.

COUNTRY STRONG will be in theaters in limited release on December 22, 2010 and then opens everywhere January 7, 2011. Check out the film’s official site here and visit it on Facebook.