KU News Release

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas freshman Shane Reynolds of Chatham, Ill., is vying for a chance to walk the red carpet at the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards.

Reynolds and nine friends banded together to shoot a music video to enter in the online contest for “Best Performance in a Pepsi Rock Band Video.” From 650 entries, judges chose five favorites. The group whose video earns the most online votes will travel to New York City’s Radio City Music Hall to receive a Moonman (MTV’s signature award) and be featured in a television spot Sept. 13.

The 10 friends, former high school classmates, appear in the video as a rock band called Nerds in Disguise that plays at a Saturday night house party. Though contest rules restrict each video to 10 or fewer performers, the Nerds in Disguise video appears to have twice as many actors because each person plays a rocker and a nerd. The video’s editor digitally combined separate clips of rockers and nerds so each actor appears twice, dressed differently, in the same party scene.

Reynolds, son of Mark and Jill Reynolds, is entering KU’s School of Engineering. He has been using campus bulletin boards to campaign for votes and said people can watch videos and vote, up to 10 times each day, at http://pepsi.yahoo.com. Voting ends Sept. 1 and requires a Yahoo user ID.