December 1, 2006

KONAMI ANNOUNCES 10 NATIONAL FINALISTS IN THE KARAOKE REVOLUTION PRESENTS: AMERICAN IDOL VIDEO GAME CONTEST

Online Rating System to Determine the Grand Prize Winner Contestants Competed On Konami’s All-New PlayStation®2 Music Video Game -- Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol

The results of the regional auditions are in, as Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. today announced the top-10 national finalists in the national contest. Competing on the video game Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol for PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, more than 500 crooners from New York to Los Angeles entered in regional competitions where they performed their chosen song from the game and were judged by virtual video game versions of American Idol judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson.

The top 10 finalists will have videos of their performance posted on the Internet until December 22, for a final public voting at the Web site http://www.musicineverydirection.com.  Visitors to the site can rate and comment on each of the performances and also be automatically entered into a sweepstakes to win cool prizes. The finalist with the highest average rating based on total number of recorded votes will be named Grand Prize winner of a trip for two to see a live taping of the American Idol show in Hollywood, Calif. Once the ratings are tabulated, the winner will be announced on January 2, 2007.

“The Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Video Game Contest has seen a great turnout at each venue and we saw a wide spectrum of talent from each market,” said Matt Knoles, Product Manager at Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. “The online component of the contest now allows the finalists the opportunity to share their video performances with their friends and lets visitors to www.musicineverdirection.com  decide who will win the Grand Prize.”

The contest, which kicked off with a bang on October 13 - 14 at the Jacob J. Javitz Convention Center in New York City, journeyed to nine other major US markets, including Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago. The 10 regional winners are already eligible to win a copy of the game when it ships to retail stores nationwide on January 2, 2007, and the hundreds of entrants who didn’t win the regional competition all received a contest T-shirt, and a coupon for $5.00 off when pre-ordering the game through http://www.konami.com. 

The top 10 regional finalists are:

• Atlanta, GA - Amie Brown

• Boston, MA - Aisha Rosario

• Chicago, IL - Kathy D’antonio

• Dallas, TX - David Fonner

• Houston, TX - Becky Tidwell

• Los Angeles, CA - Christine Cho

• New York, NY - Sandra Lau

• Philadelphia, PA - Richard Price

• San Francisco, CA - Carrie Baesler

• Washington, D.C. - Charnetta Braziel

About Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol allows players to play the part of an American Idol contestant as they audition, earn an invitation to Hollywood and ultimately perform in front of a crowd on center stage at the finale. Players can choose to sing from 40 all-new songs, including hits from the show, and receive verbal feedback on their performance from Idol judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. The evaluation by the game's judges, and the level of popularity with the crowd will affect whether or not they move on to the next round of competition. Players will be able to construct their contestant with new skin tones, clothing, hair styles and accessories in the updated Character Creator mode, creating a specialized look that is sure to catch the attention of the judges and the crowd. Players can also import images of their own face with the EyeToy USB camera (for PlayStation®2) to bring themselves directly into the actual competition.

Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol is scheduled to ship for PlayStation 2 on January 2, 2007. For more information, please visit http://www.konami.com. aa

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