MANDY MOORE CONTEST !

Today is a big day. My blog gets to host it's very first CONTEST!!!

I'm sure if anyone follows my tumblr or twitter or has talked to me at any length since last Tuesday - you know I'm all up on Mandy Moore's new album, Amanda Leigh. I've never been a true fan of her music; yes, I may or may not have driven around in high school singing along to "Candy" whenever it came on the radio, but let's be honest!

So what has changed? All of a sudden Mandy Moore is singing songs that are mature and really, quite beautiful. Amanda Leigh's songs range from elegant ("Merrimack River") to handclapping fun ("I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week") to making me swoon ("Bug"). There's some great music here; some of the guitar sounds are just dreamy. It's a little folksy, a little 70s, and lovely. I've had it on repeat for days.

Oh and wait wait wait - we all know I have an obsession with Ryan Adams, Mandy's spouse. I'm not going to say it sounds like a Ryan Adams record (it doesn't), but I can't help but feel an influence to the depth of the songs here. If you follow Ryan at all, you know Mandy's pet name for him is Bug...which I've already explained is the title of a song on the album.

SO WHAT'S THE CONTEST ALREADY?!

Well, it's specifically for people who can get to New York City on Tuesday, June 2nd! (I'll try to get a mail-to contest at some point so everyone can be included!)

I have two tickets to see Mandy Moore perform live at Highline Ballroom on Tuesday, June 2nd! Our lucky winner will recieve those two tickets, plus a free copy of Amanda Leigh!

HOW DO YOU WIN?!

Since this is my blog, and I can do anything on my blog, here's what we're going to do! You know that game The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon? Well, I've been a huge Kevin SPACEY fan for so long, that I've always played The Six Degrees of Kevin Spacey.

CONNECT MANDY MOORE TO KEVIN SPACEY IN AS LITTLE STEPS AS POSSIBLE. The contest ends Monday, June 1st, at 3pm Eastern. Leave your Name, E-mail, and Contest Answer in the comments below. If I get several comments of the shortest answer possible (PS Kevin and Mandy have never worked together!), the person who commented FIRST (via timestamp) wins.

Here's an example of an answer - let's connect Mandy to Keanu Reeves!!

Mandy Moore was in Because I Said So with Diane Keaton.
Diane Keaton was in Something's Gotta Give with Keanu Reeves.

Some restrictions: 1) No TV shows. (Mandy Moore's stints on Scrubs and Entourage do NOT count.) 2) Has to be actor-to-actor. Can't connect through directors, writers, producers, etc. 3) Only feature films - no straight-to-DVD or tv movies! 4) Animated movies and voice-work does not count either.

Just a straight-up feature film connect - no fancy stuff here - needs to be legit!

I want to see any secret New York readers I have come out of the wood work!! Get thee to the comments!

Also, what's great about this show - if you live in NYC, go to Best Buy, and buy her album. Bring the receipt to Highline Ballroom on Tuesday night and you have FREE ADMISSION. There's a bit more restrictions, but you can read those HERE.

Of course, if you win this contest, you will win her album and those tickets :)

On Monday I'll post who the winner is and their winning answer once I verify everything! Remember, you can't win unless you list your name and e-mail address, too. And you MUST be able to go to the show.

YAY! I'm also really excited to see all these songs performed at Tuesday's show.

And for all those not in New York, you can still check out and fall in love with Mandy's album! Buy it at Amazon!