In a cooperative effort with Taney County OATS Bus, Christian Action Ministries has expanded their “Outreach Programs”. On May 19th Taney County OATS will be providing transportation to Christian Action Ministries Food Pantry on the 3rd Tuesday of each month for Taney County Residents. This outreach will enable many residents to obtain food for their families.

Transportation must be arranged with the Taney County OATS Bus by NOON Monday, May 18th. Call: Lynn Parker at 230-4019
OATS will accept monetary donations in exchange for transportation. Food Orders must be called in to CAM’s Food Pantry at 417-334-1157 by NOON Monday, May 18th.

Please help CAM and Taney County OATS spread the word to those in need that this service will be available to Taney County Residents. For questions or additional information please contact Joan or Julie, Christian Action Ministries Food Pantry at (417) 334-1157 or Lynn Parker, Taney County OATS Bus Transportation Food Orders (417) 230-4019.

“Support for the community, by the community.”

The First-Place winners from Billboard Magazine’s 15th Annual World Song Contest appeared on Saturday night to the great delight of an excited music loving crowd at The Mansion Theatre in Branson. The eclectic evening ran the gamut of styles from Rock to Pop to Country to Rap/Hip Hop and beyond. The performers haled from all over the United States and as far as Ireland and Republic of Ghana in West Africa.

The contest winners, chosen in eleven categories from thousands of entries, were invited to Branson to receive their awards and perform the winning songs, by contest organizer and legendary music industry veteran, Jim Halsey of the Halsey Institute. Halsey stated, “This is the most talented group of songwriter/ performers that we have ever seen in the Billboard World Song Contest. If I could, I would sign every one of them to a deal!”

In addition to the more than $30,000 in prizes awarded in the Contest, a panel of industry executives awarded three cash prizes for best live performance at the Branson event.

The contest and live performance winners are:

LATIN: 1st- Mariella Gonzalez (The Mariella Show)- Flyaway &
1st Place- Best Live Branson Performance - $5000 prize
COUNTRY: 1st- Rick Huckaby- Ain’t Enough Blacktop
2nd Place – Best Live Branson Performance $1500 prize
RAP: 1st- Derrick Ashong (Soulfege)- From The Soul
3rd Place - Best Live Branson Performance $1000 prize
ROCK: 1st- Jimi Anderson (Jimi Anderson Band)- Another Way To Run
POP: 2nd- Matt Gorney (The Specimen)- Do U Damage
CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN/GOSPEL: 1st- Carmen Calhoun- Dare 2 Be
R&B: 1st- Leah Tysse- You Don’t Scare Me
JAZZ: 1st- Alyse Black- Stood For Stand For
DANCE: 1st- Jeremy Yeremian & Alyson- Here With Me
ELECTRONICA/SOUNDTRACK: 1st- DJ Boom, Victoria Patchen, & Scotty Beam (The DBC)- Back To You
WORLD: 1st- Robert &Wendy O’Hearn & Paul McCann- Lost Sons Of Erin
AMERICANA/FOLK: 1st- Jared Scharff (Jared Scharff & The Royals)- Bedroom Eyes

Named after its first recipient, Ella Fitzgerald, the ELLA Award is given to those singers whose musical accomplishments are paralleled by their commitment to humanitarian and charitable causes locally and internationally.

Mr. Andy Williams has been performing for nearly 70 years and still continues to do so through touring as well as singing at his Moon River Theatre in Branson. Earlier this year Mr. Williams was given the opportunity at the Grammys to present the Lifetime Grammy Achievement Award. Mr. Williams is widely known for his signature song “Moon River” and his voice was once called “a national treasure” by former president Ronald Reagan. His accomplishments include, but are not limited to, 3 platinum albums and 18 gold albums, as well as the Andy Williams Show television series that ran for almost a decade.

The award ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on May 19th, 2008. Among the performers there at the Society of Singers’ presentation will be Barry Manilow, Petula Clark, Steve Lawrence, Glen Campbell, Johnny Mathis, and Monica Mancini.

Other recipients who have previously accepted this very prestigious award include Frank Sinatra, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, Lena Horne, Dame Julie Andrews, Joe Williams, Barry Manilow, Placido Domingo, Gladys Knight, Johnny Mathis, Celine Dion, and Elton John.

Proceeds from this event will go to the Society of Singers Emergency Relief Fund and Scholarship Fund.

The Branson High School will be performing their 16th Annual Talent Show March 26th, 2008. The show will feature Branson High School students and will be held at the Legends Theatre.

Tickets are $5.00 per adult and $3.00 per child. All proceeds will be donated to the Skaggs Foundation Cancer Treatment Center.

The winners have been announced for the 15^th Annual Billboard World Song Contest. These winners were selected from an overwhelming amount of submissions. “Our numbers just keep growing,” stated Mark Furnas, contest director. “Every year, I think the songwriting ability has improved. This year, we had a better quality of songs than ever before,” says contest president, Impresario Jim Halsey.

The winners were judged on structure, originality, lyrics, composition, melody and commercial appeal. Their songs will be featured on a CD, provided by sponsor DiscMakers, distributed exclusively to recording industry decision makers. Other prizes include membership to online song submission partner Sonicbids, TAXI – The Independent A&R Vehicle membership, CASIO keyboards, Indie Band Manager Software, BluBlocker Sunglasses, D’Addario Guitar strings, Halsey Institute Online Music Business Courses and female membership in GoGirlsMusic.com. The first place winners in all categories will be invited to receive their award and perform the winning song onstage in front of music industry professionals, theater owners and buyers. The award show presentation will be March 29, 2008 at the Mansion Entertainment and Media Center in Branson, MO.

A grand prize winner will be chosen from the live performance at the awards show and will receive $5,000 for Overall Best Presentation, $1,500 for first runner up and $1,000 to the second runner up. The award show provides a platform for aspiring songwriters to display their work before an industry audience.

The winners of the 15^th Annual Billboard World Song Contest are…

Rock

1. Jimi Anderson (Jimi Anderson Band) – NJ - “Another Way to Run”
2. Jonathan Rush (Joal Rush) – SC - “Bleed”
3. Greg Hyde – IL - “Crush”

Rap

1. Derrick Ashong (Soulfege) – CA - “From The Soul”
2. Kym Smith (BoBo Ken) – Bahamas - “I Know”
3. Chris Hamilton (Chris Mugs) – DE - “Fever”

Pop

1. Joel Plaskett (Joel Plaskett Emergency) – Canada - “Fashionable People”
2. Matt Gorney (The Specimen) – NY - “Do U Damage”
3. Nafsica Gavrilaki and Zach Amitt – NY - “Perfect”

R&B

1. Leah Tysse – CA - “You Don’t Scare Me”
2. Micheal Hunter – TN - “Echos of Eden”
3. Charlotte Kelly – United Kingdom - “Symphony”

Country

1. Rick Huckaby – TN - “Ain’t Enough Blacktop”
2. Jennifer Mangum – CO - “I Can’t Breathe For You”
3. Damian Follett – Canada - “Perfect”

Jazz

1. Alyse Black – WA - “Stood For Stand For”
2. Ja’nos Egri – Hungary - “Little Johnny”
3. Steve and Karen Multer – IL - “Look Out For Love (Crash Boom Bang)”

Contempory Christian/Gospel

1. Carmen Calhoun – DC - “Dare 2 Be”
2. Kayla and Rachel Carlson - WI - “Love Him”
3. Tom Paden – TN - “Everytime You Pray”

Electronica/Soundtrack

1. DJ Boom, Victoria Patchen, Scotty Beam – DC - “Back To You”
2. Demetrios Katis – Greece - “Gathering of the Tribes”
3. Giselle Minns – Ontario - “Him”

Dance

1. Jeremy Yeremian, Alyson - CA - “Here With Me”
2. Gerald Kohlbeck - NY - “Calling Angels”
3. James Burrell (The True Self Gang) – United Kingdom - “Velvet Kingdom”

World

1. Robert and Wendy O’Hearn – OR - “Lost Sons of Erin”
2. Sinem Varoglu (Sinem Saniye) – NY - “Boom Sheke Nana”
3. Joule L’Adara – CA - “Red Earth Hands”

Americana/Folk

1. Jared Scharff (Jared Scharff & The Royals) - NY - “Bedroom Eyes”
2. Amy Hafner (Johnny Rodgers Band) - FL - “Home to Mendocino”
3. Eric Scott – MD – “Starting Today”

Latin

1. Mariella Gonzalez (The Mariella Show) – NY - “Flyaway”
2. Zoraida Santiago – Puerto Rico - “Canciones Por Tadas Partes”
3. Jorge L.Quintana – FL - “Ahora Etas Aqui”

Success in this contest has provided a launching pad for many aspiring songwriters. Last year’s country song writers, Stephen Desjardins, Lisa Firestone and Charles Harn landed a publishing deal for their song, “When He Comes Home to Her.” First place pop winners Peter Roberts and Ron Boustead’s song, “Fearless,” has been featured in the motion picture, Bratz.

Contest sponsors include Billboard Magazine, CASIO, D’Addario Strings, TAXI - The Independent A&R Vehicle, Indie Band Manager, Discmakers, BluBlocker Sunglasses, GoGirlsMusic.com, The Halsey Institute and online song submission partner Sonicbids.

The American Bus Association (ABA) announced the election of Ross Summers, President/CEO of the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau, to their Board of Directors at their annual convention in Virginia Beach, Va. He will serve on the Board of Directors for a term of three years. The board is instrumental in providing leadership and direction for the members of ABA and for the motorcoach, tour, and travel industry.

“I am honored to represent Branson. It is truly reflective of the great relationship that the Branson business community has with the motorcoach industry in my being asked to serve on the ABA board of directors,” said Summers.

Each board member is an active participant in ABA’s legislative and regulatory efforts, in particular, monitoring and attending local and state legislative sessions of concern to motorcoach and transportation issues. Board members regularly correspond with local, state and national lawmakers on transportation, travel and tourism policy issues.

For more information or to order a free Branson Vacation Guide, call the Branson/Lakes Area Convention & Visitors Bureau at 800-214-3661.

Playtime Pizza is currently open Thursday through Sunday.

• Thursday Special - $5.99 for everyone
• Friday Special - $4.99 for seniors 55+

Get out of the COLD — Come have some food & fun in our climate-controlled facility. 3101 Gretna Road. Ph. 332-1112

Branson.com is excited to announce that they have released a new section of their site: Branson.com/Gadgets. The free gadgets allow Branson-related websites to display show schedules, Branson area events, and Branson weather.

All of these gadgets automatically stay up-to-date through the Branson.com internal sytems. This allows a Branson website to just copy and paste a gadget into their site and no longer need to worry about their website staying current.

With so many hours spent by countless businesses attempting to keep current with Branson show schedules, events and weather, this will take the burden off of a website’s need to update constantly and allow them to focus on other areas of their site.

To get Branson.com Gadgets for your site, go to www.Branson.com/Gadgets.

For more information or questions please call: 417-334-2360

Thursday from 5:30 PM till 8:00 PM, Playtime Pizza will be combining its regular Karaoke with a “Jam” and live music.
If you sing or play an instrument, come prepared to have dinner and join in.

At Playtime Pizza, it’s all about “Just Having Fun”

Every Saturday night at 7:30 PM, at Playtime Pizza, we clear the floor in the middle of our dining room, and offer line dancing and couples dancing to the beginner or the more experienced dancers. If you’re looking for a place to dance, or you want to learn how to dance, come join us at Playtime Pizza. The cost is the price of our buffet. Come have dinner, see our weekly Saturday show at 6:30 PM, then join in the dancing at 7:30.

At Playtime Pizza, it’s all about “Just Having Fun” !