After receiving thousands of submissions from around the world, Amazon
(NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced the 20 semi-finalists of the Amazon Beedle
the Bard Ballad Writing Contest (www.amazon.com/beedleballads,
www.amazon.co.uk/beedleballads).
The contest challenged Muggles ages 13 and older to creatively answer
one of three Harry Potter-related questions (in 100 words or less), for
the chance to win a weekend trip for two to London, England with “The
Tales of Beedle the Bard” (security guards
included). The book is one of seven, handwritten and illustrated copies
by J.K. Rowling, which Amazon purchased at auction in December 2007 for
$4 million. The proceeds of the purchase benefited The Children’s
Voice, Ms. Rowling’s charity for orphaned
children around the world.
The 20 semi-finalists (in alphabetical order by first name, and split
into two age groups) are:
Age Group 13-17
Semi-finalists
Age Group 18 and Older
Semi-finalists
1.
Alfie M., 13, Cambridgeshire, England
1.
Deb P., Cairns, Australia
2.
Carolyn A., 15, Berkshire, England
2.
Debra M., Riverside, Ill., United States
3.
Hayley M., 16, London, England
3.
Graeme N., Saanich, B.C., Canada
4.
Julia C., 15, Bedford, England
4.
Jennifer S., Mainz, Germany
5.
Lucie C., 14, Devon, England
5.
John O., Norfolk, England
6.
Megan S., 14, Singleton, England
6.
Kay D., Bellevue, Wash., United States
7.
Nicole M., 15, Eagle, Ida., United States
7.
Laura C., Essex, England
8.
Rachael C., 16, Milton Keynes, England
8.
Laura H., Fresno, Calif., United States
9.
Rhiannon D., 16, Jones Hill, Australia
9.
Nicole D., Somerset, N.J., United States
10.
Richard D., 13, Devon, England
10.
Rebecca W., Gloucestershire, England
Customers now have one week to vote for their favorite semi-finalist
submission in each age group by logging on to www.amazon.com/beedleballads
or www.amazon.co.uk/beedleballads.
The first round of customer voting begins today and closes on Sunday,
May 11, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. The entry in each age group with the
most votes will move on to become one of two finalists who will compete
for the grand prize.
In the final phase, Amazon customers will have one more opportunity to
vote for their favorite submission to determine the grand prize winner
of the trip to London and weekend with “The
Tales of Beedle the Bard.” The two finalists
will be announced in mid-May. In addition to being eligible for the
grand prize, each of the finalists will receive a $1,000 gift
certificate redeemable at www.amazon.com.
The grand prize winner is slated to be announced on May 22.
To read the semi-finalist entries and vote for your favorite Amazon
Beedle the Bard Ballad Writing Contest submissions visit www.amazon.com/beedleballads
or www.amazon.co.uk/beedleballads.
The Amazon Beedle the Bard Ballad Writing Contest is sponsored by Amazon
Services, LLC. For full contest rules and frequently asked questions
about the Amazon Beedle the Bard Ballad Writing Contest, visit www.amazon.com/beedleballads
or www.amazon.co.uk/beedleballads.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc., (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in
Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers
Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most
customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything
they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the
lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of
unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as books,
movies, music & games, digital downloads, electronics & computers, home
& garden, toys, kids & baby, grocery, apparel, shoes & jewelry, health &
beauty, sports & outdoors, tools, auto & industrial.
Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s
developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services
based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can
use to enable virtually any type of business. Examples of the services
offered by Amazon Web Services are Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon
EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon
Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS), Amazon Flexible Payments Service
(Amazon FPS), and Amazon Mechanical Turk.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com,
www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de,
www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr,
www.amazon.ca, and the Joyo Amazon
websites at www.joyo.cn and www.amazon.cn.
As used herein, “Amazon.com,”
“we,” “our”
and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless
the context indicates otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly
from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to
competition, management of growth, new products, services and
technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international
expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center
optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and
strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption,
significant amount of indebtedness, inventory, government regulation and
taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that
potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in
Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2007, and subsequent filings.
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