SEATTLE - (Business Wire) 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.
Amazon.com
Media Hotline, 206-266-7180
