CHICAGO -- Ten die-hard Cubs fans inched one step closer to a once-in-a-lifetime experience Monday at Wrigley Field.

With the caricature of Harry Caray looking down upon them from the stadium's press box, each of the 10 fans stood at home plate and performed their own rendition of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" for a panel of celebrity judges. The panel's votes, along with online votes from viewers at Cubs.com, will award one finalist the opportunity to sing during the seventh inning stretch at Wrigley Sept. 22, when the Cubs take on the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"To me it'd be one of those life-experience things you can check off your list," said Peter Mastro, 54, of Carol Stream. "Just to be able to say I was the first non-celebrity to sing at the park, I think I'd be done for the rest of my life. I don't think there is anything else I would have to do."

The Cubs announced the Ultimate 7th Inning Stretch Competition in June. More than 2,700 fans, representing 46 of the 50 United States, auditioned in the first round of the competition. Fifty semi-finalists were named Aug. 3, and for two weeks, five of those audition tapes were posted and voted on each day at Cubs.com. The competitor who received the most votes each day became a finalist.

The video of Monday's performances will be posted Monday, Sept. 10, on Cubs.com, where viewers can also learn more about each finalist. All 10 will be in attendance Sept. 22 when the winner is announced.

"I thought it was awesome just being in here when 2,700 people tried out, but this is really awesome being one of 10 people here," said Dustin Eglseder, 22, of Guttenberg, Iowa.

Eglseder, who used to be a third baseman, was recently diagnosed with bone cancer, and said it has been the Cubs that have helped him keep his spirits high.

"That's what I look forward to every single day is having the Cubs game on, especially when they win," Eglseder said. "Even when they lose, it's still watching a baseball game, and takes my mind off everything else."

The 10 finalists ranged in age from 11-year-old Carly Butler from Oswego to 81-year-old Elinore Triner of Palatine. Each brought with them their own Cubs memories, and their own unique story as to why they should win the Ultimate 7th Inning Stretch Competition.

"It would be the greatest thing that ever happened to me," said Triner, who was at Wrigley in 1945 the last time the Cubs were in the World Series. She saw her first Cubs game in 1930, and has been a fan ever since.

"This is my greatest happiness, because I've loved the Cubs all my life from the time I can remember," Triner said.

Dick Wyninger also became a Cubs fan around the time the Cubs were last in the World Series. Wyninger's father was at Wrigley for the World Series, and brought his son, who was 10 at the time, memorabilia from the game. As Dick Wyninger, now 71 and living in Urbana, said, he's been hooked ever since, and that it would be a dream come true to sing at Wrigley before 40,000 fans.

"To be up there and be able to sing in front of the greatest fans in the world, plus you're on worldwide television, what more could a guy ask for?" Wyninger said.

For Marciann Braun, winning the competition would be a pretty nice birthday present. Braun, 29, of Arlington Heights, turns 30 Sept. 18, and told her friends she wanted to be at Wrigley for her birthday. She'll celebrate the big day with her friends that day, but said she wouldn't mind having a little icing on the cake four days later. "It'd be a good way to start my next 30 years," Braun said with a smile.

It was Jack Norworth that first wrote "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" back in 1908, the same year the Cubs last won the World Series. Harry Caray made the song famous at Wrigley Field, and since the broadcaster passed away in 1998, celebrities have sung the seventh inning stretch in his place.

"It's hard to put into words," said Rich Kienzl, 41, of Hammond, Ind. "When I get to walk on that field today, you've got home plate -- all the greats through history have been there. We're doing something that no one else has done as a fan."

The celebrity judges appeared to understand that historic element as well. Cubs Hall of Famers Ernie Banks and Billy Williams, Harry Caray's widow, Dutchie Caray, former Notre Dame basketball coach Digger Phelps, and WGN Radio's Steve Cochran and Dave Kaplan each judged the finalists on their overall performance and appeared to be impressed by what they saw.

"I think I was looking for somebody who kind of could do it like Harry," Dutchie Caray said. "And it was a very hard decision, because several of them did it, and did it well."

Matt Shepardson, 31, of Bolingbrook, admitted he had not been able to sleep the last two nights, simply out of pure excitement. Shepardson, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, said he dreamt of singing the seventh inning stretch at Wrigley long before the Cubs launched the contest.

"There's a bit of sacred trust," Shepardson said of singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame." "That's a really huge responsibility and privilege that I would carry with me for the rest of my life."

Eric Wollam made the longest trip of the finalists to get to Wrigley Monday. Wollam, 39, lives in Bradford, Tenn., and joked that he felt he was carrying all southern Cubs fans on his shoulders during the contest.

"It's really unbelievable, just a dream," Wollam said. "I want to pinch myself every morning. I can't believe it's actually happening."

Singing instructor Lindsey Studnicki, 27, of Normal agreed.

"It's been a lot of fun," Studnicki said. "Just something I never expected I'd get to do. It would be a huge honor to get to do this, and really it's just been an honor to get this far."

Despite being the youngest finalist, Carly Butler made it clear that she understood the magnitude of the competition.

"It would just be so cool," Butler said. "Like nothing I could ever experience again."

Their ages and stories may have differed, but the one constant among all 10 finalists was a hope to sing out in front of the Wrigley faithful as the Cubs continue their push towards the playoffs, and perhaps, the World Series.

"That's what makes this so special, and I think that's what makes Cubs fans so special," said Phelps, who is the only non-Cub to sing the seventh-inning stretch every year since Harry Caray passed away. "They never give up, they always love it.

"For these people to have this moment, there will be nine people who I still say are winners," Phelps said. "There's going to be one person to sing, but to have the opportunity just to sing here, even though there's not 41,000 with you, it's still a dream come true for these people."