LOS ANGELES, Calif. — His singing career began a year ago. It started with weddings and Church functions and has grown to where he sang the national anthem at Dodger Stadium June 9 in front of some 25,000 people.
And he's only 3 years old.
Rex Spjute, whose parents are Carl and Deanna Spjute of the Meridian 12th Ward, Meridian Idaho West Stake, may be the youngest performer ever to sing at a major league baseball game. He performed a cappella, and on pitch. And he just plain had fun.
"He took the excitement of it all in stride," his mother later told the Church News. "After he sang, we walked from centerfield around to the side. Everyone was yelling for him, and lots of players were high-fiving him."
The crowd, there to watch the Dodgers take on the Texas Rangers, loved the little blond boy. In fact, Sister Spjute related that when Rex reached the point in the anthem, "the rockets red glare," the "crowd just erupted. He almost stopped singing."
When he finished, he got a standing ovation. And Dad couldn't wipe the smile off his face, said Sister Spjute.
The road to Dodger Stadium began about a year ago when one evening Sister Spjute heard her son playing the piano. "We found he had a talent for pitch. He would play a note on the piano and sing the note and play another note and sing that note. I said, 'That's raw talent.' "
Last fall, Brother and Sister Spjute; who also have three other children, Chelsea, 14; Becky, 11; and Dan, 10; took Rex to a talent agency in Boise, near their hometown of Meridian, Idaho, and the boy was soon singing in local events, including "Festival of Trees," fashion shows, college basketball games and even a CBA (Continental Basketball Association) game. At the end of one fashion show just before last Christmas, Rex performed "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus."
"A lot of the women were moved to tears. It was really fun," Rex's mother recalled.
Not long after, a local newspaper featured Rex, and officials of the "Tonight Show" on NBC saw the article. Soon, the Spjutes were on their way to Los Angeles as guests of the show, which aired June 10. The "Tonight Show" officials also contacted the Dodger franchise to arrange for Rex to sing and the "Guinness Book of World Records" to investigate whether Rex was the youngest person to sing at a major league game.
However, his mother said Rex didn't seem to care much about all the fanfare.
He was more excited when a concessions man at the stadium gave him a free pizza.
