Deliver Your News to the World

Gap Announces The 20 Finalists For Its Third Annual Casting Call Contest


WEBWIRE

America to Decide Which Four Children Will Become the Next Faces of babyGap and GapKids by Voting at Gap.com/castingcall

SAN FRANCISCO – After more than a month of sorting through hundreds of thousands of eligible cuties, Gap is revealing the 20 finalists in its nationwide contest to find the next faces of babyGap and GapKids. Starting today through December 21, it is up to America to log onto gap.com/castingcall and decide which four lovable, personality-filled children – one baby girl and one baby boy for babyGap and one girl and one boy for GapKids – will be featured in store windows from coast-to-coast and will receive other incredible prizes including a year’s supply of clothing from babyGap or GapKids and $450 worth of photo gifts from Snapfish by HP.

“This year parents were more enthusiastic than ever. We received more than 883,000 entries, beating the record from the previous two years, and thousands of families attended photo-taking events at Gap stores to participate in the Casting Call contest,” said Pam Wallack, president of babyGap, GapKids and GapMaternity. “Each year the decision gets harder with so many babies and kids to pick from. Selecting just 20 finalists to represent our brand out of hundreds of thousands of adorable children was no easy feat.”

Introducing the Casting Call Finalists:
Baby Girl [ages four and under]:

Audrey, 2, from Jersey City, NJ is a tiny dancer - from free-styling to funk classics to doing the Monkey Dance with the Wiggles – Audrey’s fashionable feet are always on the move!

Ellen, 3, from South River, NJ boasts tofu among her favorite foods and has a fondness for Japanese nursery rhymes. When she isn’t playing hide and seek or Lego’s, Ellen can probably be found at Great Adventure amusement park.

Emily, 3, from Whitesburg, KY could be the next country star in the making. Her favorite song is “I Never Promised you a Rose Garden” and she can do almost every animal impersonation out there [and a few Spongebob ones too.]

Jaci Rae, 3, from Bedminster, NJ loves to going to the playground, listening to Disney Kids music and playing with her full-service restaurant game where she cooks, serves and takes food orders.

Keira, 2, from San Diego, CA loves to dance and sing along to High School Musical 2 and when she isn’t playing with her Disney princesses and fairies, she likes to play in the park.

Baby Boy [ages four and under]:
Caleb, 3, from Gurnee, IL is a budding athlete who loves Tiger Woods, Lebron James and playing catch with his Brett Farve football. Caleb also likes to play with his Spiderman toy collection and WALL-E Robot.

Julian, 1, from San Francisco, CA is an explorer in training. One of his favorite activities is heading to San Francisco’s Academy of Sciences where he takes in the sights at Explorers Cove.

Max, 2, from Columbia Heights, MN is all smiles when it comes to dancing and singing for an audience. Max also loves to read and see all his favorite animals at the zoo.

Sam, 2, from Lake Worth, FL is carefree and energetic and loves to go on picnics at the beach when he isn’t dancing his heart out to music like Rhianna or the Florida Gators Fight Cheer.

Yanni, 1, from Boca Raton, FL is a curious cutie who loves to play at the beach. Yanni can often be found tapping his little feet and dancing to music or playing with his toy fire truck.

Kid Girl [ages five to 10]:
Carly, 6, from Sharon, MA, goes crazy for anything pink and anything chocolate. She enjoys playing games with her family and would love to be an artist or a singer when she grows up. Carly prefers recess over art, but enjoys them both and she has a special talent of being a good friend.

Claire, 8, of Coppell, TX, has mastered riding a bike with only one hand. When she’s not riding her bike, she chows down on spaghetti, reads The Littles and listens to Fabulous from High School Musical 2. Her signature look always features a clip in her hair, a great look for when she becomes a sportscaster when she grows up.

Jimena, 8, from League City, Texas, loves to see movies on the weekends and aspires to become like Miley Cyrus when she grows up. She has been given special talents in painting, singing and dancing and loves to eat chicken fingers and Cesar salad and kick it in her favorite jeans and hair accessories.

Jovana, 9, from Rochelle, IL, loves to snack on red apples, giving her the energy she needs for fast pitching in softball and playing basketball. When she’s not being sporty, Jovana loves to sleep in and hang out with friends. Her favorite subject in school is science and she would love to grow up to be a teacher or a veterinarian.

Sidney, 5, of Lewisville, Texas, wants to be a teacher when she grows up, and is especially keen on her music and movement class. On the weekends she likes to watch movies, visit the park and chill with her friends. Her cuisine of choice is fruits and veggies and loves playing soccer, dancing and hopping around.

Kid Boy [ages five to 10]:
A.J., 7, of Dunkirk, MD, is a big fan of football whether it’s playing with his Pee-Wee team or going to U.S. Naval Academy games. He is perfecting his piano skills, loves to wear hoodies and dreams of being a firefighter someday. He gets down to The Cupid Shuffle and loves noodles and P.E.

Diego, 9, of Houston, TX, loves to play soccer on the weekends but off the field he hits the books studying his favorite subjects, social studies and math. Torn between his celebrity looks and his soccer skills, Diego wants to grow up to be either a pro soccer player or an actor. He enjoys carpaccio, shrimp and ravioli and all kinds of music.

Jared, 7, from Santa Fe, NM, enjoys hitting up the local Farmers Market on the weekends and dreams of being a coffee maker in the future. He chows down on Sloppy Joe’s when he’s not playing soccer or practicing art. His favorite accessory is his bike and he enjoys Reading Buddies at school.

Jet, 7, from Gray, TN, is well on his way to achieving his dream of being a model when he grows up. He loves to play and have fun, specifically on the basketball court. He chills to Christian music while eating his favs, pizza and chicken. When he’s not being athletic in all kinds of sports, Jet enjoys fine tuning his math skills or watching WALL-E.

Kellen, 7, from Wellington, FL, is a talented gamer but when he’s not controlling the video game characters, he’s doing flips and handstands of his own with Judo, break dancing and gymnastics. He’s building up his resume for when he becomes a model and an actor.

“Out of so many great entries, these 20 finalists truly personify the Gap brand with their expressive faces and bright personalities,“ adds Wallack. “This contest brings a tremendous amount of pride to our brand and we can’t wait to see which four children will be selected as the next faces of babyGap and GapKids.”

The 20 finalists got a sneak-peek of what its like to be a bonafide model when Gap flew them to San Francisco to participate in a professional photo shoot in November. For becoming a finalist, each will receive prize packages including a $300 gift card from babyGap / GapKids as well as prizes from Snapfish by HP, the No. 1 online photo service.

Casting Call Contest Background:
From Sept. 15 to Oct. 22, parents across the country uploaded their favorite photos of their babies and kids at gap.com/castingcall or brought their little ones to one of 40 photo-taking events that were held at babyGap and GapKids stores across the nation. Once all the entries were in, judges narrowed down the pool of nearly 900,000 entrants to 20 finalists – 10 babies (ages four and under) and 10 kids (ages five to 10.) Starting today through Dec. 21, Americans can visit gap.com/castingcall to vote for their favorite babies and kids. The winners will be revealed in February.

Gap Inc. is a leading global specialty retailer offering clothing, accessories and personal care products for men, women, children and babies under the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime and Athleta brand names. Fiscal 2007 sales were $15.8 billion. Gap Inc. operates more than 3,100 stores in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan and Ireland. In addition, Gap Inc. is expanding its international presence with franchise agreements in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. For more information, please visit www.gapinc.com.



WebWireID82012





This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.

News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.