Registration Open Now For How Sweet The Sound To Find "The Best Church Choir In America 2010

Small and large choirs are eligible to enter the competition. The Few Voices category is for choirs consisting of six to 35 participants, while the Many Voices category is for choirs with 36 to 100 participants. Audition videos will be reviewed by professional music producers, music executives and Gospel radio personalities from each city. The judges will select up to 16 choirs – eight from each category – from each stop of the tour. The video submissions of the 16 choirs will be posted on www.HowSweetTheSound.com 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 where 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 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 receive $5,000.

Verizon Wireless will select a local artist in each city of the 14 cities to represent their city during the How Sweet the Sound 2010 tour. The selected artists will create a custom fine art piece that pays tribute to the event in their hometowns.

HopeLine®
Verizon Wireless will collect no-longer-used wireless phones, batteries and accessories -- in any condition and from any provider -- at stores nationwide and in bins onsite at every How Sweet the Sound event as part of the company's ongoing HopeLine program which raises awareness of domestic violence. The phones are either refurbished for reuse or recycled, and the proceeds from the program provide wireless phones and cash grants to local shelters and non-profit organizations that focus on domestic violence prevention and awareness. In 2009, more than 7,500 phones were collected during How Sweet the Sound, and at the grand finale, Verizon Wireless donated $25,000 to the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) to support its Women of Color Leadership Initiative. Additional details will be announced as the selection process gets underway. All details about the entry and selection process and the official rules can be found by visiting www.HowSweetTheSound.comor by calling 800-230-0053.