WYCLEF JEAN, MARY J. BLIGE, AMY GRANT AND NICK LACHEY OF 98° TO JUDGE THE USA WEEKEND-JOHN LENNON SONGWRITING CONTEST FOR TEENS

—Teens in Grades 7-12 Have Opportunity to Win Prizes and Recognition For Lyrics in Two Categories—

NEW YORK (January 13, 2002)—The John Lennon Songwriting Contest and USA Weekend Magazine have joined forces to create the USA Weekend-John Lennon Songwriting Contest for Teens. The Contest for Teens merges the strength of the Sunday magazine's distribution in 580 newspapers across the country and 48 million readers with the John Lennon Songwriting Contest's knowledge of music and strong celebrity relationships.

High school students (grades 7-12) at least 13 years of age are eligible to submit lyrics to The USA/JLSC Contest for Teens in two categories – general and patriotic. Submissions are absolutely free. The JLSC will be responsible for selecting the top entries which will then go to the celebrity judges—Wyclef Jean, Mary J. Blige, Amy Grant and Nick Lachey of 98°—to determine the Grand Prize winners, which will be .published in the Memorial Day issue of USA Weekend. The winners will be flown to Cleveland to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in June where the winning lyrics, put to music by Grammy Award winner Wyclef Jean, will be performed and their awards will be presented along with the John Lennon Songwriting Contest Maxell Song of the Year winner.

Other prizes for the Contest for Teens include a $1,000 United States savings bond provided by the Maxell Corporation along with a supply of CD-R music discs; an iOmega state-of-the-art CD burner valued at $300; plus, the winners' schools will each receive two Yamaha acoustic guitars, two portable keyboards and a synthesizer, with a total value in excess of $2,000.

The Contest launched with the publication of the January 6 issue of USA Weekend Magazine, which features interviews with Wyclef Jean and Mary J. Blige discussing their "secrets" to writing a hit song. In subsequent issues, the magazine will feature a story on the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and one on the John Lennon Songwriting Contest Educational Tour Bus. There will also be a presence on both websites, www.usaweekend.com and www.jlsc.com with links to Maxell and Yamaha which will describe their relationship with the JLSC and its non-profit Educational Tour Bus.

Brian Rothschild, Executive Director of the JLSC, says, "This is a perfect marriage. The USA Weekend/JLSC Contest for Teens extends our mission of helping to teach young people about the importance of words and music, something that John Lennon epitomized."