The Scratch

Ringing in the new year with a chance at $1 million

Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve is coming to Nebraska! Well, a little bit of it is, at least.

Shawn Cantrell of Lincoln will be competing to be the first Powerball Millionaire of the Year on December 31 on live TV. He’ll be one of five competitors vying to win $1 million.

Shawn was one of 13 winners in our 13 for $1,300 Powerball with Power Play Promotion back in October. Nebraska Lottery players who purchased a $3 Powerball ticket with Power Play option received a voucher to enter online in our MVP Club.

Shawn’s name, along with the names of all the other 12 winners were entered into a nationwide drawing to win one of five New Year’s Eve prize packages that included an at-home New Year’s Eve party package and a $12,500 cash prize as well as a chance to appear on live TV and a shot at winning $1 million during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2021.

Having a contestant from Nebraska almost didn’t happen. After the nationwide drawing, there were no winners from Nebraska. Then, after one contestant dropped out and another drawing was performed, Shawn’s name was picked.

Now Shawn and his wife Joni will be appearing on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.

Many of the contestants will be appearing from their homes, but the Cantrells will be doing their remote segments from a hotel suite in Lincoln.

“They’re going to have a crew there and we’d be tripping all over everybody at my house,” Shawn said, “so they were generous enough to offer that.”

Last year’s contestants in the First Powerball Millionaire of the Year promotion actually flew out to New York for the event, but with everything going on this year with the pandemic, the producers decided to keep everyone at home.

That’s not to say that the Cantrells aren’t going to have a New Year’s Eve blowout to remember. Prizes from Dick Clark Productions have already started showing up. So far they’ve gotten a 70-inch television, prize bags, party décor and a boxed surf and turf dinner for eight from Omaha Steaks.

“All the gifts were amazing,” Joni said. “I was shocked, we got way more stuff that we thought we would.”

Shawn said the experience has been pretty surreal for him. Talking with production crews from California and New York trying to make their experience as fun as possible has gone great, he said.

A stay-at-home New Year’s Eve sounds like the perfect event, Shawn said. He’s not really into crowds and he’s looking forward to keeping it low key. Joni said she’s hoping they win so she’ll get to talk to Michael Strahan on Good Morning America the following day.

Shawn will be up against competitors from Indiana, Pennsylvania, Florida and Washington, D.C. and he and Joni said they’re looking forward to being able to promote Nebraska to a national audience.

The win also came at the perfect time for the Cantrells as their furnace gave out just a couple of days before their win. A good chunk of the $12,500 prize will be going toward fixing it, they said, but they’ll still have some left over to enjoy.