St. Louis's Divine Sorrow Wins Charter's Center Stage Online Battle of the Bands; Will Open Live and on Internationally Streamed Concert Featuring The All-American Rejects

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Divine Sorrow, a progressive hard rock band from St. Louis with a large Missouri following, is about to be known well beyond the Midwest. As the winner of Charter's national battle of the bands contest, Charter Center Stage, Divine Sorrow will take center stage to open for The All-American Rejects at the Taste of St. Louis festival (TasteSTL.com) on September 29 at 7:30 pm CT, with performances by both bands streamed live on Facebook® (http://www.facebook.com/chartercom).  

Divine Sorrow, from House Springs, Missouri, received the most final-round votes on the Charter Center Stage website, where voters viewed music videos from the 11 contest finalists and voted for the band they wanted to see open the Center Stage concert. The Missouri band also received the most first-round votes, competing against 245 other bands that originally entered the contest from Charter service areas nationwide. As the Charter Center Stage winner, Divine Sorrow qualifies to receive a prize package valued at nearly $25,000, which includes a $10,000 gift card plus travel expenses to perform at the Taste of St. Louis concert.

"We are incredibly grateful and humbled to receive the most votes in the Charter Center Stage battle," said Bryan Chappell, lead singer and song writer of Divine Sorrow. "Thanks to Charter, we've been provided this opportunity to gain valuable national exposure, along with the thrill of opening a live concert for The All-American Rejects."

Members of Divine Sorrow include Bryan Chappell, lead vocals and bass; Matt Depew, lead guitar; Mike Sikorski, guitar; and Lee Skyles, drums. Divine Sorrow's winning selection and music video, as well as the videos from all the finalists, can be viewed at charter.com/centerstage.

"We're passionate performers who love to have fun on stage. We've only been together as a band for about two years, but we are older and have had more life experiences compared to many new bands so our lyrics are known for being deep," said Chappell. "We're looking forward to playing in front of a hometown St. Louis crowd and to those watching live on Facebook."

Allan Samson, Charter's Senior Vice President of Marketing, added that the Charter Center Stage website and Facebook page received millions of views during the contest. "The Internet took center stage in helping Divine Sorrow and the other bands gain fan recognition and support. As a leading Internet service provider, this kind of online enthusiasm for music is no surprise to us at Charter. The number of fans that watched 245 bands vie online for this concert opportunity proves that the power of the Internet and social media, coupled with numerous talented bands, unites music lovers across the country. We hope our September concert, streamed live via Facebook, will be the start of a great next chapter for Divine Sorrow."

There were no casualties from this battle, with the remaining 10 finalist bands each receiving a $2,000 gift card. In addition to casting a vote for a favorite band, over 90,000 voters registered for a chance to win gift card prizes in the Charter Center Stage Sweepstakes.

Visit charter.com/centerstage for more information.

About Charter
Charter (NASDAQ: CHTR) is a leading broadband communications company and the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States. Charter provides a full range of advanced broadband services, including advanced Charter TV® video entertainment programming, Charter Internet® access, and Charter Phone®. Charter Business® similarly provides scalable, tailored, and cost-effective broadband communications solutions to business organizations, such as business-to-business Internet access, data networking, business telephone, video and music entertainment services, and wireless backhaul. Charter's advertising sales and production services are sold under the Charter Media® brand. More information about Charter can be found at charter.com.

SOURCE Charter