Fans of Soul Songstress Jill Scott Can Enter the VerizonSurround 'Love Rain' Music Video Contest to Win Tickets to Her Concert and Autographed CDs

NEW YORK - Fans of Grammy Award-winning soul and rhythm and blues singer and songwriter Jill Scott can enter a music video contest and win the opportunity to meet with Scott and attend one of her two concert performances next month at Radio City Music Hall, featuring special guests Musiq Soulchild, Chaka Khan and Robin Thicke, courtesy of Verizon.

To enter the VerizonSurround "Love Rain" music video contest, visit http://verizon.net/jillscott. Contestants must submit a one-to-two-minute video file that gives an original interpretation performance inspired by Scott's song "Love Rain." Entry videos must include the lyrics of the song or a rework of the lyrics.  (See official rules online.) Verizon's Scott video contest page is on the company's cutting-edge, broadband entertainment site, VerizonSurround (http://surround.verizon.net), which features movie trailers, hot news, cool games and fast-paced message boards. 

"Verizon is fast becoming the company for all your entertainment needs, so it only made sense for us to host this online contest to give Jill Scott's fans not only the chance to win cool prizes, but the chance to be creative," said Pat Hennebry, director of corporate sponsorships for Verizon."

Scott will perform at Radio City Music Hall on June 13 and 14 at 8 p.m. Award-winning comedian, TV star and clothing designer Mo'Nique, who is presently starring in VH1's "Flavor of Love Girls Charm School," will join Scott on both nights as show host.

Scott's music has been described as a blend of 70s soul, jazz and blues, together with 80s hip-hop. Her debut album, "Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1," was released in July 2000.  "Experience: Jill Scott 826+," appeared the following summer and featured the single "A Long Walk," earning her a Grammy nomination in early 2003 for Best Female Vocal Performance.  Scott's "Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds, Vol. 2" came out in 2004 and the more recent "Collobarations" in 2007.  Her next album, "The Real Thing," is expected to be released this summer.

Musiq Soulchild will be featured at Scott's June 13 performance. He made a blockbuster debut in 2000 and since then he has had multiple platinum albums and has won several awards, including Billboard Music Awards, Soul Train Music Awards and ASCAP Rhythm and Soul Awards, and multiple nominations for Grammy Awards and BET Awards.

Chaka Khan and Robin Thicke will join Scott's performance on June 14. Multiple Grammy Award-winner Khan is well known for her famous song, "I'm Every Woman," which became a smash hit again for Whitney Houston a decade after Khan released it.

Thicke's smash single, "Wanna Love You Girl," can be heard throughout the country on radio stations, formats and in clubs. His career began at 16 when, with no formal training, he began writing and producing music for recording artists like Brandy and Brian McKnight. Thicke has dozens of gold and platinum records with artists including Usher, Mary J. Blige, Michael Jackson and Christina Aguilera. Currently, his second U.S. single, "Lost Without U," is a smash hit on air and on the charts.

The grand-prize winner of Verizon's video contest will receive two tickets to Scott's June 14 performance, and three runners-up will win autographed CDs.  The grand-prize winner will also have the opportunity to meet Scott backstage after the show.

Video files for the online contest will need to be in one of these formats: QuickTime (.mov), MPEG (.mpg), MPEG-4 (.mp4), Windows Media (.wmv), or (AVI (.avi). One video entry per person. Entries must be original works that have not been previously published nor infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual property, or other rights of any person or entity. For complete rules to the VerizonSurround "Love Rain" music video contest, please visit http://verizon.net/jillscott.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving 60.7 million customers nationwide.  Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon has a diverse workforce of more than 238,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $88 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

####