Taylor Swift named as celebrity inductee for Arlington’s International Bowling Museum

by PegNews wire

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She beat out Justin Bieber in a competition we had no idea was going on.

ARLINGTON — The public has spoken and country music sensation Taylor Swift is the fan's choice as the 2010 celebrity inductee into the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame. With nearly 1.3 million votes cast online at www.gobowling.com, Swift topped pop star Justin Bieber in a hotly contested race to forever secure her place in bowling history. Swift and Bieber were among nine celebrity nominees selected by the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA) for their public support of the sport of bowling. Placing at a distant third to Swift and Bieber was comic legend and former "King Pin" star Bill Murray, who went on a late run to amass nearly 20,000 online votes during National Bowling Week (July 31 to August 7), an impressive total, but not nearly enough to catch Swift or Bieber, who each garnered more than 600,000 votes. Rounding out the bottom of the competition was late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon who netted just 623 votes. The results of the Celebrity Hall of Fame vote were first reported in the August 23rd issue of OK! Magazine.

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"In many ways Taylor Swift perfectly represents the current face of bowling, especially as the sport enjoys unprecedented growth in popularity among youth, women, and young adults," said Steve Johnson, executive director of the BPAA. "While we are grateful to Justin Bieber and all of our candidates for their enthusiasm for our great sport, we are tremendously proud to welcome Ms. Swift as our celebrity inductee into the Hall of Fame and we extend our deepest congratulations to her and the hundreds of thousands of fans who cast votes on her behalf."

For the first time in bowling history, the industry opened the Hall of Fame celebrity induction process to the fans -- and the votes rolled in. Since the fan polls opened July 12, nearly 1.3 million votes were cast in a fierce competition that has seen the front-runner position shift multiple times between Swift and Bieber. Additionally, underscoring the global popularity of bowling, the BPAA reported that votes were cast by individuals in all 50 states and across 113 countries.

Source: Bowling Proprietors' Association of America