Log on to the Yahoo home page and click the exclamation point. That's a Tucson teen you'll hear yodeling.
Tiffany Jo Allen captured 80 percent of the votes nationwide in a recent Yahoo yodeling contest and was one of three winners worldwide. A teen from the United Kingdom and another from India also won out of 21,000 international entries.
"That was huge for me, because that got me on the Yahoo home page and the chance to be used in their advertising this year," Allen, 17, said of winning the contest earlier this week.
Contestants yodeled and also performed variations on yodeling, said Becky Auslander, a spokeswoman for Yahoo. Allen's yodel will be on the Yahoo home page until next week.
Yahoo has used yodeling as a part of its advertising campaign for years, but Auslander said this is the first time there's been a contest.
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"The goal of this was to make a real face be part of Yahoo yodeling," Auslander said.
Allen started yodeling with her grandmother 11 years ago, but she said playing guitar and singing are her first passions.
Her first performance was in the Catalina Foothills High School auditorium was when she was six. "The response and feedback made me realize that's what I want to do with the rest of my life," she said.
Her commitment has never wavered.
"It just feels like a part of me," she said of singing. "I get on the stage and it just feels like my home. I think I just love music in general. If I'm not playing the guitar or singing, then I've got on headphones and I'm listening to music."
Allen has a large fan base who voted for her repeatedly during the contest. She performs about 70 shows a year around the United States.
This week, she is recording a CD of original songs - a mixture of country and rock music.
Allen has been home-schooled since she was in third grade and is currently taking classes at Pima Community College. She plans to attend the University of Arizona and study engineering.
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