Thirteen-year-old Billy Gilman belted out "One Voice," the title track of his double platinum-selling debut album, during his Sunday set at the Country Stampede at Tuttle Creek State Park north of Manhattan. JEFF DAVIS/The Capital-Journal

By Bill Blankenship
The Capital-Journal

MANHATTAN -- Courtney Emmerich was about ready to faint, and it had nothing to do with Sunday's blazing sun and the resulting high temperatures.

The cause of the 13-year-old Hutchinson girl's hyperventilation was who was performing on the stage of the Country Stampede at Tuttle Creek State Park.

"Billy!" Courtney screamed as she weaved and rocked to the singing of Billy Gilman, the 13-year-old country singing sensation who has one double platinum and two gold albums to his credit, largely on the enthusiasm of teen and preteen girls such as Courtney.

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"Oh my God! I'm going to have a heart attack," cried Courtney, who had displayed her loyalty to Gilman by writing his name on her upper chest.

"I had to see Billy," explained Courtney, who said he was the only reason she asked her mother and aunt to bring her to the Stampede.

Courtney never sat during Gilman's set.

Neither did a group of girls from nearby Junction City, who came to the Stampede with a proposal for Gilman -- a wedding proposal.

Lauren Stewart and Janelle Cumro, both 14, held aloft a hand-painted sign that said, "Marry Me Billy!"

"He's just so cute," Lauren said, with Janelle in quick agreement, adding, "I like him a lot. He's so hot."

Asked whether they thought their heartthrob could read their sign before security guards asked them to move out of an aisle, the girls weren't sure.

Moments later, loud squeals erupted from the Junction City contingent of the Billy Gilman fan club as he noticed and read the sign to the crowd.

"Marry me? I'm too young," Gilman told the girls, who seemed more than happy to get the recognition even if it was a rejection.

Not everyone in the crowd thought Gilman was all that.

Christa Heideman, 13, Wamego, moved in close to the fence around the VIP seating section to try to get a good photograph of Gilman.

After she was asked to move back by a security guard, she was asked whether she thought Gilman was cute.

"No, but she does," Christa responded, pointing to her companion, Tara Grauer. Tara, a 9-year-old from Seneca, acknowledged she did like Gilman's looks.

"I like everything about him," she said, adding she has all three of the young star's albums.

So what is her favorite Gilman song?

" 'She's My Girl,' " Tara responded.

And when she hears Gilman sing that song, who does Tara imagine he is singing about?

Maybe her?

"No," she replied sheepishly as her cheeks turned a bright shade of red for a reason that had nothing to do with the sun.

Bill Blankenship can be reached at (785) 295-1284 or bblankenship@cjonline.com.