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Published on Friday, 31 August 2012 08:49
WLUP-FM/97.9 The Loop is bringing back its formerly annual tradition of seeking a new Loop Rock Girl. The search for the 2013 Loop Rock Girl is now underway, for the first time in nearly two years.
As
exclusively reported here this past April, new WLUP-FM owners, Merlin Media decided to pass on doing a new Rock Girl contest in 2012, and instead extended the reign and contract of the 2011 Loop Rock Girl, Tricia Van Der Slik, through the start of this winter. This made Tricia also the 2012 Loop Rock Girl, and she became the first-ever two-year Rock Girl since the role was created in 2005.
Traditionally, the Loop Rock Girl searches started in February of a given year, with the contestants being whittled down to just a few, and a final winner being chosen in the springtime, usually late April or May. With Merlin Media's attention at the time being focused on trying to improve its struggling FM News stations in Chicago & New York, plus starting up a new radio station from scratch in Philadelphia, the decision was made to hold off on a Rock Girl contest.
The other advantage to holding off until now is that the Loop Rock Girls in the past for a given year were already nearly five months into that year before being awarded the title. By holding off until later in the year, the 2013 Loop Rock Girl will actually hold that title for at least 11 of the 12 months in that year.
For the new Loop Rock Girl contest, the first ever for the station while owned by Merlin Media, the winner will be crowned at the end of October and will keep the title until the end of November 2013 -- a 13 month run. As compensation for that role, the winner will get a contract for $75,000, represent the station at events for the next year, and take part in numerous photo/video shoots. (There is no guaranteed modeling contract given to the winner this year.)
WLUP-FM has started the search process for the 2013 Loop Rock Girl. The station is accepting submissions up until the morning of September 21st. Those interested in applying must be at least 21 years old, submit the required personal information, attach at least 4 photos, and link to a 60 second YouTube video explaining why the station and its fans should pick you.
WLUP-FM and Merlin Media judges will select their picks for the top 30 contestants (aka "The Flirty 30") on September 21. After that, the 30 contestants will do appearances around Chicagoland for two weeks and have their photos/information posted up on the WLUP-FM website for fans to see and vote on. On October 12th, the contestant group will be knocked down to the top 16 vote gainers (aka "The Sweet 16"), who will again have their information on the website for just over a week, trying to get fans and friends to vote for them. At the end of that period, only four contestants will remain (aka "The Final 4"). Those four will appear at a live "finals" event near the end of October (at a location to be determined), where one lucky lady will be named as the 2013 Loop Rock Girl.
Submissions and more information can be found on The Loop's website
HERE.
