By Marie Gilmore
For seven local 12-year-olds, including Mulrennen Middle School student Karinna Crespo from Valrico and Megan Hoening from Lithia, this Super Bowl was special because they were appearing in their first national television commercial.
Both girls, along with five additional Tampa Bay area Bucs teens, are considered Super Bowl babies because they were born after a Super Bowl win by their hometown Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003. After auditioning through their Tampa-based youth choir, both girls were called just days before a whirlwind three-day trip to New York which was followed shortly thereafter with another three-day trip to San Francisco. After filming the start of the commercial, which included different choirs of Super Bowl babies including 1-year-olds, all the way up to 50-year-olds, the production team moved from New York to San Francisco.
The choirs, all adorned in their hometown team colors, sing along to custom Kiss From A Rose lyrics by Seal, who also makes a cameo.
For the girls, both members of the Lumina Youth Choir which meets on Monday nights at USF, this was the opportunity of a lifetime.
“Karinna auditioned with Lumina Youth Choir as a group, then they were put on the spot by auditioning individually,” described Karinna’s mom, Yadira Talamantez. “The only thing that came to mind was a Justin Bieber song that she had just heard on the radio, so she sang that.”
The Super Bowl Babies Choir commercial was part of the league’s celebration of its 50th year of hosting the Super Bowl and features fans from eight Super Bowl-winning cities. A 60-second version of the commercial aired on national television shortly after the third quarter of the game.
Even before the commercial aired, local media buzz surrounded the local teens and Crespo has been interviewed by Bay News 9, ABC News, Fox 13, and the Mike Calta show.
“I am so proud of her and how well she has taken all this on,” described Talamantez.
To see the full commercial, visit youtube.com/nfl.
