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MEDIA CONTACT:
Victoria Powers
victoria@keldof.com
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HOLLYWOOD
(May, 10, 2007) - It was the talk of the town; what's more fun than
a friendly game of ping pong with a celebrity twist. On Thursday night,
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital launched
its Young Hollywood Task Force at the First Annual Celebrity
Grand Slam Paddle Jam, taking place at Vanguard Hollywood and
attended by a wide array of hollywood’s hottest rising stars and
entertainment’s young turks and revelers.
Guests came out to play and raise funds for St. Jude by competing in
an industry table tennis tournament for the chance to win the coveted
Golden Paddle and more prizes detailed below. Many also attended as
spectators, cheering on teams while enjoying food from Chipotle,
Pink’s Hotdogs, and Dippin’ Dots; drinks
from Patron and title partner Dos Equis; and music from The Ellen Show's
DJ Jonny Abrahams. The tournament was officiated by the USA Table Tennis
Association (USATT), the national governing body for the Olympic sport
of table tennis in the United States. The evening also featured a “celebrity
exhibition tournament” – vying celebrity vs. celebrity,
TV show vs. TV show, and more, in an exciting rivalry detailed here.
In the end, Reality Stars ruled as The Real World's The Miz & Randy
Spelling beat out cast members from Heroes, The Hills, Desparate Housewives,
Fantastic Four, Seinfeld, and many more.
Thanks to the support of presenting partner Dippin Dots,
title partner Dos Equis as well as Activision, Boost
Mobile, Patron Tequila, P.I.N.K Vodka, Chipotle, Pink’s
Hotdogs, Elemis, Finest Call Mixers, Function Drinks, H to O, Integrity
Fashions, Logitech, Mixed Bag , Monster Energy, Runtriz,
Sharp Printing, Twenty Rows, Vinocehe and Jetblue;
the evening was underwritten to ensure that 100 percent of the ticket
price supported St. Jude to help children with cancer and other catastrophic
diseases. The event was conceived and produced by Kevin Seldon of Keldof.
CELEBRITY ATTENDANTS included:
NBC’s Heroes: Tawny Cypress, Jimmy Jean-Louis, James Kyson
Lee (pictured upper left); MTV’s The Hills:
Lauren
Conrad, Audrina Patridge (pictured middle left),
ABC’s What About Brian: Barry Watson, Rick Gomez;
ABC’s October Road: Bryan Greenberg, Jonathan Murphy; ABC’s
Desperate Housewives: Josh Henderson, Shawn Pyfrom; CBS’s Shark:
Henry Simmons; CW’s One Tree Hill: Sophia Bush,
Paul Johansson; TBS’s My Boys: Jaimie Kaler, Reid Scott, Kyle
Howard; as well as Jason Alexander; Ioan Gruffudd (pictured
lower left) & Beau Garrett (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver
Surfer), Channing Tatum (A Guide To Recognizing Your
Saints), Aisha Tyler (Balls of Fury), Sean Patrick Thomas (A Raisin
in the Sun), Arielle Kebbel (The Grudge 2, Football Wives),
Brittany Snow (Hairspray), Larenz Tate (Ray, Crash), Terry
Crews (Balls of Fury, Everybody Hates Chris). Rena Sofer
(24), Chris Masterson (Malcom in the Middle), Nikki Griffin (The OC),
Andy Milder (Weeds), Jarrad Paul (Monk); Sara Rue,
Will Sasso (Less Than Perfect); Randy Spelling (Sons of Hollywood),
Skyler Stone & Zach Johnson (Skyler’s Revolution), Kate Linder
(The Young and the Restless), Kari Whitman (The Kari Whitman Show),
BD Freeman (MAD TV), Mark Derwin (Heist), Grant Show
(Dirt), Traxx Neutron (N'tune), Kyle Brandt & Farah Fath (Days of
Our Lives), Patricia Kara & Gunnar Peterson (Deal or No Deal) and
emcees: Justin Kredible, Affion Crockett, and Adam Hunter
TEAM PRIZES:
- Grand Prize Winners received admission to the Bob Bondurant School
of High Performance Driving in Phoenix, AZ (courtesy of GM) for the
ultimate 2-day full-throttle driving experience in a Z06 Corvette; including
one-night luxury stay at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa,
roundtrip airfare on Southwest Airlines, one year of DIRECTV, $200 Gift
Certificate to Bin 8945 Wine Bistro, a magnum of Legends Cabernet Sauvignon
2004 from Cosentino Winery Sonoma (full package valued at over $4,500)
- Runner Up team received two night stay at the Palms Casino in Las
Vegas in deluxe room with VIP entry to two Vegas nightclubs including
MOON.
- Jet Blue Final Four: The 16 skilled players that made it to the final
4 matches received one roundtrip domestic ticket courtesy of JetBlue
Airways.
About DIPPIN’ DOTS:
Dippin’ Dots® had been a long time supporter of St. Jude when
last year the granddaughter of a Dippin’ Dots employee became
a St. Jude patient. Ali Patterson was only three months old when she
was treated for a very rare form of leukemia. She’s now in remission
and is a beautifully active little girl thanks to the treatment she
could have only received at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
For approximately 4 years, Dippin’ Dots has provided free ice
cream to a specific research project at St. Jude studying whether calcium
aids in recovery after patients undergo cancer treatment (chemo, etc.).
Research participants and their family members receive the free Dippin’
Dots when visiting the hospital for treatment.
Dippin’ Dots® are super-cold, tiny beads of ice cream, yogurt,
sherbet and flavored ice. Invented in 1988 by microbiologist and entrepreneur
Curt Jones, Dippin’ Dots® offers more than thirty different
flavors! Dippin’ Dots® are sold in thousands of retail locations,
parks stadiums and arenas worldwide. Locations and company information
are available at www.dippindots.com.About ST.
JUDE:
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized
for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer
and other catastrophic diseases. Founded by the late entertainer Danny
Thomas and based in Memphis, Tennessee, St. Jude freely shares its discoveries
with scientific and medical communities around the world. No family
ever pays for treatments not covered by insurance, and families without
insurance are never asked to pay. St. Jude is financially supported
by ALSAC, its fundraising organization. For more information please
visit www.stjude.org.
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