This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The polls will open Wednesday for voting on who will join Brad Paisley and David Archuleta on stage at Stadium of Fire.
Producers of the Independence Day show have moved to the second stage of the Stadium of Fire Talent Search, in which voters will choose which of 40 acts move to the next round. The voting will continue on the Stadium of Fire website until April 15.
Emory Cook, spokesman for America's Freedom Festival at Provo, said producers received hundreds of audition tapes, and they culled the top 40 from them for the voting.
The online voting will pare the field to 25 contestants who will move to a public audition, where judges will select the 10 who will perform at a public concert. At that point, three finalists will be chosen to perform at Stadium of Fire, where the audience will pick the $10,000 prize winner.
Cook said the tapes represent a variety of acts, from singers to dancers to novelty acts.
In February, the producers announced the selection of Paisley, a three-time Grammy Award winner, and Archuleta as the headline acts.
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