Taylor Swift is one of our favorite artists, and VH1's 'Storytellers' is one of our favorite TV shows. The two have teamed up for a fantastic new contest - What could go wrong? Well, an underreported line item in the Taylor Swift contest FAQs could spell trouble.
UPDATE: Monday October 1st, 2012 - The winner has been announced!
Yesterday, immensely popular entertainer Taylor Swift announced she will perform live at a high school or college that wins the 'Taylor Swift on Campus' contest. The contest is sponsored by VH1 and Swift's performance at the winning school will be broadcast on the TV music channel's show 'Storytellers'.
The contest uses Facebook for school nomination and the subsequent 'Likes' for each school count as a contest "vote" a la American Idol. The school with the most votes will win the in-person Taylor Swift performance.
In addition to the top vote getter, Swift, known for her sincere loyalty to her fans and for groundbreaking changes to the music industry, is giving back in a new, altruistic way via the contest. The top five schools will each get a $10,000 grant to their music department as part of a philanthropic program of Chegg a prominent student support portal. Swift talks about the contest in the video below:
The fun contest should be hotly contested among all the schools nationwide with students clicking the Facebook 'Like' button millions of times. But will this contest end up being a blessing or a curse for the winning school?
Taking the time to read the 'Taylor Swift on Campus' contest frequently asked questions, this particular line item caught our attention:
The winning school will administer handing out tickets and manage the selection process of who is able to attend, based on the size of the venue available for the show.
Uh-oh.
In the past, some of the largest, most sophisticated concert areas in the country have had issues with the massive demand for Taylor Swift concert tickets. These gigantic venues have every resource available to distribute tickets and manage the crowds - how will a local high school or city college fare with the same challenge?
The daunting task is exacerbated by the fact the winner will not be known until the contest ends weeks from now, lessening the amount of time to prepare a ticket sale and event management strategy.
This is not to suggest the winning school cannot triumph and have a successful event, it just seems that the school should be given the logistical support needed. The contest sponsors ( Viacom, Papa John's Pizza, and CoverGirl Make-up ) have the resources to help the winning school, so there is still time to change the "You're on your own!" nature of the contest FAQ answer.
Some colleges have big sports stadiums, and they will fair much better should they win, but imagine a local high school or city college trying to organize, and distribute tickets for a Swift concert. Hopefully, one of the major contest sponsors step-up and help with the winning school's challenge of having an entertainer as popular as Taylor Swift perform on campus.
What do you think? Are the contest rules a bit harsh, leaving the winning school to fend for itself and have a Taylor Swift concert on its campus? Should VH1 and Swift's production company step in and help?
