Inspired By Song! December Contest Announcement

The time has come. Following an absolutely phenomenal turnout last month for our November Inspired by Song! contest (81 entries), we have been anxiously awaiting the time to release the latest topic on an unassuming Active Rain audience. We are planning a different theme each month, and this month promises to be a doozy.

Since this month's contest will involve an almost unfathomable level of embarrassment for the winners, we as judges have decided to post our own "entries" in order to get the ball rolling (see details under "Judging" below).

This month's contest will be "My Guilty Music Pleasures". What does that mean exactly? Well, here are some factors to consider:

• Songs that are different from your typical musical taste
• Songs that you enjoy anytime, but you probably only sing along with them while you are alone
• Songs that, if they were to come on the radio, you would likely turn up and sing along with, but not with the windows open
• Music that you wouldn't want to be caught singing!

This Ford Focus commercial is a prime example of what we are talking about here (in the video, Michael Bolton is the driver's guilty pleasure artist):

So, with that in mind, we look forward to seeing some fun and creative entries. Speaking as one of the judges, I personally will be judging at least partially based on the embarrassment factor. How much are you willing to put yourself out there?

Here are the details:

THE RULES:

• The post must be titled "My Guilty Music Pleasures."
• The post must be tagged "My Guilty Music Pleasures."
• Your entry must tell the story of your reason that you consider this to be a guilty pleasure.
• Please do not list a number of songs and YouTube videos with no explanation.
• You can describe songs, genres, or whatever you'd like, but it has to be a guilty pleasure.
• Have fun with this. Don't be afraid to embarrass yourself.
• All entries must be submitted between December 3^rd and December 13^th.
• Since this is not focused on an individual song, only one entry per person will be allowed.
• Post your entry in the groups Inspired By Song! and Active Rain Addicts.
• Since this is all about fun, the judges will be commenting immediately. There is going to be too much interaction in the comments section that we would miss out on by waiting until after the judging is completed. Any comments made are not going to be an indication of the final judging.

THE JUDGING:

The judges will be the founders of Inspired By Song! (Adam Waldman, Paul Slaybaugh and me).

Even though the judges can't win, we will all submit entries to share in the embarrassing fun. All three of us will be launching our entries at about 5pm Eastern time Sunday, December 1^st (same day that this post is launching). This should provide some good examples of what we are looking for this time around. Please feel free to join in ridiculing or empathizing with our choices.

THE PRIZES:

1000 points to the first place winner

750 points to the second place winner

500 points to the third place winner

200 points for entering the contest (These points are in addition to the 200 points that you receive for every post, and whatever bonus points that you get for comments from Active Rain).

Please remember to use the exact title for the post and the exact tag for the post. We need this for tracking purposes. Please also make sure to post your entry into Inspired By Song! and Active Rain Addicts. Entries that don't follow the rules cannot be judged. Thanks!