Museum's Singing Contest

Catalina Island Museum Sponsors "26 Miles" Singing Contest

If you like music and love Catalina, no doubt you’ve been known to hum, sing or whistle “26 Miles (Santa Catalina)”, the song written and recorded by The Four Preps in the 1950's that sailed its way to the top of the charts.  In order to celebrate that classic song, the Catalina Island Museum is sponsoring its first ever singing contest!  

It’s simple to enter.  Just record a video of you and up to 3 friends performing your version of “26 Miles.”  Then log on to YouTube and upload it to the Museum’s singing contest group at http://www.youtube.com/channel/26MilesContest. 

The first round of competition is from Tuesday, July 14 through September 14.  A group of judges, including co-writer of “26 Miles,” Bruce Belland, will choose 10 semifinalists based on criteria like creativity, vocal performance and originality.  Each semifinalist will win an autographed CD by The Four Preps.  The Grand Prize Winner will be announced on October 4th and will win a three-day, two-night Catalina Island with tours and the opportunity to perform "26 Miles" live at the annual Museum  Telethon with Bruce Belland himself!  The annual Telethon is broadcast live on Catalina Cable TV and simulcast online at www.eCatalina.com so the whole world can enjoy and participate in Catalina’s history.

“Bruce is very excited about this contest and so are we,” enthused museum director Stacey Otte.  “We feel it’s a great way to celebrate a song so important to our history and remind the world how fun and unique Catalina’s heritage is.  We hope the contest really goes ‘viral’ and gets folks excited.  We can’t wait to see what people will come up with!”

For contest rules, song lyrics and details log on to www.CatalinaMuseum.org. The museum is a private, nonprofit organization founded by community members in 1953.  The Catalina Island Museum is located on the ground floor of the historic Casino Building and is open to the public daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.