Baseball Scout Alex Slattery Wins CMT's Popularity Contest  6/13/05

Vega, Texas Residents Vote Major League Baseball Scout Alex Slattery the 'Most Popular' in Final Episode of the CMT Series 'Popularity Contest'

Winner Splits $100,000 With One Lucky Town Resident

NASHVILLE, Tenn., June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- For the two remaining contestants on the CMT series POPULARITY CONTEST, the last town vote by the residents of Vega, Texas determined who would be the "most popular." In the final episode that premiered on June 11, it was revealed that Alex Slattery, a Major League Baseball Scout from Chicago, won the hearts and votes of the town and was named "most popular" and given a $100,000 prize. In a promised twist in the series, the winner announced that Vega resident Perry Kirkland would receive half of his prize monies, with each taking home $50,000. Slattery beat out restaurateur Rory Schepisi for the title of "most popular." 

"This town has had too much of an impact on me not to come back and there is no way this $50,000 check gets awarded to me without this town," Slattery tells CMT. "This check might as well have been written by the townspeople and this check is going to make a major impact on my life and my family's life." 

"It was exciting to see Alex win and then when he named me as the winner of the other fifty (thousand) it made me very proud," Vega resident Perry Kirkland tells CMT. Kirkland, a prominent Vega business owner, is giving the winnings back to the community. "I was surprised, but I wasn't shocked because he (Alex) had visited with me about it and asked my feelings about the $50,000 and what it should go for. I'd made the comment to several people that the money really in no way needed to go to one individual person because everybody in town has worked hard, and everyone had opened up their homes. I know there are people in town that could use the money, but to say that someone deserved the money more than someone else, there just wasn't anyone. So, we are going to tithe ten percent of it to the Vega churches and we're excited about giving the rest of the money to the Chamber of Commerce." 

"I got so close to Perry," says Slattery, " I knew exactly what his feelings were for the money and I knew that those feelings were for the entire town not for any reason that would benefit him or his family directly. I knew that his plans for the money were to provide services and really improve this town." 

In POPULARITY CONTEST, hosted by Jonathan Torrens, 10 contestants hailing from big cities around the nation were dropped into the small town of Vega, Texas, where they lived for 28 days. Among them were a chef, model, financial analyst, psychic, opera singer, major league baseball scout, professional cheerleader and business owner among the city slickers. In Vega, a farming town nestled along historic Route 66, contestants competed in character- revealing challenges as well as challenges that give back to the community including landscaping, fundraising and construction. The local residents held bi-weekly town hall meetings to vote for whom they felt was the "most popular." But there was also a twist. At the first town meeting the town's residents found out that they would be in contention for a piece of the prize. The person voted "most popular" would award a cash prize to the resident of his or her own choice. A game that began with 10 contestants turned into a game played by the whole town. For more information on POPULARITY CONTEST log on to CMT.com

CMT, America's No. 1 country music network, carries original programming, specials, and live concerts and events, as well as a mix of videos by established country music artists and new cutting-edge acts, including world premiere exclusive videos. Founded March 6, 1983, CMT, owned and operated by MTV Networks, reaches more than 77.1 million households in the United States. Go to country music's biggest web site at http://www.CMT.com.

SOURCE CMT 

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