GMC TV and Verizon Wireless Premiere Reality Special, 'The How Sweet the Sound Road to the Finale,' on Nov. 26, and 'The How Sweet the Sound Finale' Special on Dec. 3

GMC TV and Verizon Wireless Premiere Reality Special, 'The How Sweet the Sound Road to the Finale,' on Nov. 26, and 'The How Sweet the Sound Finale' Special on Dec. 3

Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child to Host Both Events, Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton Make Special Appearance

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. and ATLANTA, Nov. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- GMC, America's favorite channel for uplifting music and family entertainment, announced today that it will partner with Verizon Wireless on a pair of upcoming gospel choir competition specials: "The How Sweet the Sound Road to the Finale" reality special premiering on Saturday, Nov. 26, on GMC and Verizon's "How Sweet the Sound Finale" from the Staples Center in Los Angeles premiering on Saturday, Dec. 3. Both GMC specials will be hosted by Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child.

The Nov. 26 airing of "The How Sweet the Sound Road to the Finale" reality special will chronicle the excitement, drama, triumph and struggles of choirs competing in Verizon's "How Sweet the Sound" choir competition, which was held this fall in Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Oakland, Calif., Charlotte, N.C. and Washington, DC. The competition is the country's most prestigious gospel music experience, paying tribute to gospel music while providing choirs a platform to showcase their talent. Competing choirs had the chance to rejoice in song and praise, sing in front of gospel greats and fans, and win up to $50,000.

"Verizon's 'How Sweet the Sound' inspires communities across the country through the power of gospel music and celebrates the impact these choirs have on the community," said Marquett Smith, vice president, corporate communications, Verizon Wireless. "With this documentary, we wanted to capture the choirs' talent and passion and share the uplifting grand finale with viewers across the country."

"Gospel-centric programming has been and continues to be a strong ratings driver for the network," said Mary Jeanne Cavanagh, GMC's executive vice president, ad sales. "Verizon will surely benefit from the increased brand affinity with our audience and heightened levels of engagement these two specials will undoubtedly deliver."

GMC camera crews traveled from city to city to capture highlights of the choirs' public performances as well as compelling behind-the-scenes human interest stories and emotions.

The Dec. 3 airing of the finale from the Staples Center will feature a star-studded lineup of performances and presentations, including a duet from Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton from their upcoming movie, "Joyful Noise". Other celebrity talent appearing in the show includes, Donald Lawrence, CeCe Winans, Marvin Sapp, Israel Houghton, Shirley Caesar and some of the nation's best choirs.

In last year's competition, the choir Voices of Destiny won the "How Sweet the Sound" grand prize, plus an opportunity to perform at the 2011 Stellar Awards and Super Bowl Gospel Celebration. The choir is using its prize money to build a youth center.

For more information about Verizon's How Sweet the Sound, please visit www.HowSweetTheSound.com.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation's largest 4G LTE network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves 107.7 million total wireless connections, including 90.7 million retail customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with nearly 83,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

About GMC

GMC (www.watchGMCtv.com) is America's favorite television channel for uplifting music and family entertainment. The Parents Television Council(TM) recently awarded its Entertainment Seal of Approval(TM) to GMC for being "an authentic family-friendly cable network." GMC was the only television network to receive the highly coveted honor in 2010. GMC can be seen in more than 51 million homes on various cable systems around the country, as well as DISH Network on channel 188, DIRECTV on channel 338 and Verizon FiOS on channel 224. Follow GMC TV on Facebook and Twitter at http://facebook.com/gmctv and @gmctv or http://twitter.com/gmctv

SOURCE Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless

CONTACT: Elva Lima, Verizon Wireless, +1-908-559-7530, Elva.Lima@verizonwireless.com; or Chelsye Burrows, GMC, +1-770-692-4559, cburrows@gmctv.tv; or Mark Braff, Braff Communications LLC, +1-201-612-0707, mbraff@braffcommunications.com

Web Site: http://www.verizonwireless.com

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