Post by thales on Jul 10, 2007 15:11:07 GMT -1
Residents of 14 American towns named Springfield are due to discover which one is to host the premiere of the film about animated family The Simpsons.
The show was set in a fictional Springfield because its creator, Matt Groening, spotted that this was one of the most common place-names in the US.
An online vote has been held, with each town asked to record a video which represented the cartoon's "spirit".
The winner is announced on Tuesday, and the premiere is on 26 July.
Towns in the states of Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Michigan have all been competing to stage the premiere.
And they had rivals named Springfield in Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont.
Video parodies
The video entry from Illinois featured the general manager of the local power plant, Todd Renfrow, whose appearance is similar to that of Montgomery Burns, the villain and power plant owner in the show.
Over in Kentucky, a scene was filmed portraying creator Groening in a courtroom, hearing how the cartoon was based on their town.
And Senator Edward Kennedy was recruited for the recording by Springfield, Massachusetts, even though he is regularly mocked in the series.
"We always really did think we were the one," said Tim Farley, executive director at the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau in Illinois.
"The similarities between the cartoon and Springfield are really uncanny," he told Reuters.
And he added that whatever the outcome, all of the towns were "winners".
"It's made a lot of Springfields more popular than they may have been before," he said.
Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/6287064.stm
Published: 2007/07/10 08:48:16 GMT
*cough*kentucky*cough*
