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Virgin Mobile USA names winner of text-to-vote music effort

Virgin Mobile USA's text-to-vote Book the Band competition has come to a close with rock band Hollywood Undead declared the winner.

Hollywood Undead will now grace the stage of the Kyocera-sponsored Virgin Mobile Festival, performing live for the first time. The group beat four other bands by receiving 53 percent, or roughly 285,000 of more than 540,000 votes placed via text between June 16 and July 21.

"The strategy behind the Book the Band promotion is to use social networks and other viral outlets to build awareness for the Virgin Mobile Festival," said Ron Faris, director of brand development and partnerships at Virgin Mobile USA, Warren, NJ. "We do this by tapping in to our music fans' addiction to music and music discovery."

The band will perform at the Virgin Mobile Festival with about 40 other acts featuring Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson, Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails, Stone Temple Pilots and Bob Dylan. Other acts include Iggy & The Stooges, Paramore, Chuck Berry, The Black Keys and Wilco.

Concert goers will also have access to a dance tent.

On Aug. 9-10, Hollywood Undead will rally the rock-and-roll troops around Baltimore's Pimlico RaceCourse. Wearing their signature masks, the band will kick off the festival with their unique hip-hop, emo and metal-inspired rock music.

Hollywood Undead is expected to release their "Swan Songs" via A&M/Octone records on Aug. 26.

Virgin Mobile's Book the Band second-place winners are Tampa, FL-based Automatic Loveletter with more than 161,000 votes.

Third place was awarded to New Jersey's The Parlor Mob.

Virgin Mobile Festival tickets are sold through Ticketmaster at http://www.ticketmaster.com.

Two-day tickets are $175 for general admission and $450 for VIP. Single-day tickets are $97.50 for general admission and $250 for VIP tickets. An additional dollar is charged and put towards The RE*Generation charity, found at http://www.virginmobileusa.com/regeneration.

"The Book the Band program has elevated the publicity of the Virgin Mobile Festival overall," Mr. Faris said.

"The fact is that we are hosting a band with so much viral success to debut their first live performance at our festival is a compelling story for media outlets," he said.