The music television channel VH1 began accepting submissions Tuesday for a contest that challenges poets to write four lines of verse about famed pop star Madonna. The jackpot? Two tickets to see her perform at New York City's Roseland Ballroom on April 30, a day after the release of her new CD, Hard Candy.
According to a post on the VH1 blog, the "4 Lines to See Madonna" contest is open to anyone who is "a Madonna fan and a decent poet." Entries, which can be submitted in a comments field on the blog, will be judged on "outrageousness, musical knowledge, and crazy-ass rhymes." According to contest guidelines, however, submissions need not contain rhymes, crazy-ass or otherwise. In fact, entries can't contain obscenity, offensive language, or degrogatory characterizations of any kind. The deadline is April 24.
VH1 is, along with its sister channel MTV, part of the MTV Networks division of Viacom. The Madonna poetry contest is not the first time the network has put out a call to poets. In 2006 mtvU, the network's college campus channel, sponsored a contest that offered publication in an anthology and an appearance on television.
