BASKING RIDGE, N.J., July
20 /PRNewswire/ — Verizon’s How Sweet the Sound™ is
bigger than ever in 2010 with the expansion to three new cities,
including Charlotte, N.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Cleveland.  The national gospel choir
competition gives church choirs across the country a chance to win the
title of “The Best Church Choir in America” and up to $50,000 in cash and prizes.  CeCe Winans, gospel
industry legend and winner of numerous GRAMMY® and Stellar Awards, will
join co-host and GRAMMY-winning songwriter, producer, arranger and
music director Donald Lawrence as the
tour emcee at each of the 14 regional competitions and the finale.
 Marvin Sapp, Hezekiah Walker, Byron Cage,
James Fortune, Dorinda
Clark Cole, Fred Hammond, Kurt Carr, Richard
Smallwood and more will join the competition as judges.

“I am thrilled to
co-host Verizon’s 2010 How Sweet the Sound competition.  Gospel music is
the foundation of American popular music and is a celebration of
community.  Gospel is part of my soul, and I look forward to
experiencing it with people from across the country,” said CeCe Winans.

“We are so proud that
this event has become a marquee event in the gospel community, and we
are eager to bring it to more of our customers and their communities,”
said Marquett Smith, vice president,
corporate communications, Verizon Wireless.  “Verizon’s How Sweet the
Sound is just one program of a much larger commitment to communities for
Verizon.”

Verizon’s How Sweet the
Sound will kick off Sept. 9 in Houston and will visit the following cities:

• Houston
  (Sept. 9, Toyota Center)
• Jacksonville, Fla. (Sept.
  11, Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena)
• Memphis, Tenn. (Sept.
  14, FedEx Forum)
• Philadelphia
  (Sept. 17, Wachovia Center)
• Washington, D.C. (Sept.
  18, Verizon Center)
• Newark,
  N.J. (Sept. 22, Prudential Center)
• Cleveland (Sept. 24,
  Quicken Loans Arena)
• Detroit (Sept. 25, Joe Louis
  Arena)
• Chicago (Sept. 27, United Center)
• Charlotte, N.C. (Sept.
  30, Time Warner Cable Arena)
• Atlanta
  (Oct. 2, Philips Arena)
• St. Louis (Oct. 5,
  Scottrade Center)
• Oakland, Calif.
  (Oct. 9, ORACLE Arena)
• Los Angeles (Oct. 11,
  STAPLES Center)

How Sweet the Sound
Information

Choirs selected from
each city will move on to the regional competitions to compete for a
chance to earn the title of “The Best Church Choir in America” and to
win up to $16,000 in cash and prizes plus
the opportunity to represent their cities in the grand finale of How
Sweet the Sound in Washington, D.C., on
November 13, 2010.  Tickets for regional
events are on sale now.  Floor seats at each regional show are $7, and lower- and upper-tier seats are
available for $5.  

In 2009, Atlanta‘s West Pentecostal Church Choir was
named the overall winner of How Sweet the Sound.  According to the
choir’s music director, Brandon Frazier,
the choir used its prize money to record its first album.

Details about Verizon’s
How Sweet the Sound, including schedules, online voting, judging
criteria, tickets and official rules, are available online at www.howsweetthesound.com.

About Verizon
Wireless

Verizon Wireless
operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G
data network, serving nearly 93 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 81,000 employees
nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon
Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). 
For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com.
To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and
high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the
Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

Verizon Wireless