2010 How Sweet the Sound Comes to Florida to Find ‘The Best Church
Choir in America’

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March
17 /PRNewswire/ — The How Sweet the Sound™ 2010
competition is coming to Florida,
which could mean a sweet $25,000 for a
local church choir.

The event,
created by Verizon Wireless three years ago, is a national competition
that gives church choirs a chance to win the title of “The Best Church
Choir in America” and a grand prize of $25,000
in cash and gifts.  The competition awards a total of $50,000, including prizes for regional winners
and other categories.  

This year, Jacksonville joins 13 other host cities
nationwide to be represented in the competition.  Others include Houston, St. Louis,
Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Detroit, Chicago,
Atlanta, Memphis,
Los Angeles, Oakland,
Cleveland and Charlotte, N.C.

Choirs
within an approximate four-hour drive of Jacksonville
are eligible to enter, opening the competition to Gospel groups in most
of North Florida and the Panhandle,
south to the Space Coast, Orlando area
and parts of Tampa Bay.  A list of
eligible zip codes can be found at www.HowSweetTheSound.com.

“How
Sweet the Sound is much more than a singing competition for choirs –
it is an opportunity to celebrate the unique ways that music connects
people from all walks of life,” said Pam Tope,
Florida region president for Verizon
Wireless. “Many cities and towns in Florida
have a great tradition of Gospel music and we’re proud to welcome area
choirs into this celebration and competition.”

Small and
large choirs, which are judged in separate categories, are eligible to
enter the competition by first submitting an audition video of no longer
than three minutes.  Videos will be reviewed by professional music
producers, music executives and Gospel radio personalities from each
host city.  The judges will select up to 16 choirs – eight from each
category – from each stop of the tour.  The videos of the 16 choirs will
be posted on the How Sweet the Sound website where members of
the community can vote for their favorite choirs.

Once the
online voting is complete, four choirs from each category will be
selected to perform onstage in the regional event.  Two winners, one
from each category, will win $10,000 for
their choir.  One overall winner will be selected at each regional
concert, and each choir member from the overall winning choir will also
receive a Verizon Wireless phone and a $50
gift card.  The overall winning choir from each city will also advance
to the grand finale (in a city to be determined) where they will compete
to win more than $25,000 in cash and
prizes.  

In
addition, the Verizon Wireless V CAST People’s Choice Award will be
given to the choir that captures the heart of the audience at each
regional performance and at the grand finale performance.  The V CAST
People’s Choice Award winners will each receive $5,000.

To be
eligible to enter the competition, all registration forms and audition
videos must be received by May 17, 2010.
Interested choir representatives can visit a Verizon Wireless retail
location, call 800-230-0053 or go to www.HowSweetTheSound.com
for more information.

About
Verizon Wireless

Verizon
Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice
and 3G data network, serving more than 91 million customers.
Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J.,
with  83,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture
of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (Nasdaq and LSE: VOD).
 For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com.
To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and
high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the
Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

Verizon Wireless

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