Kristal Jones
Assistant Features Editor
krijones@valdosta.edu

The Tuesday event started off with high hopes and expectations for the Blanton Commons pool party with MTV celebrity appearances.
According to Blanton Commons Apartments General Manager, Kirstin Orphan, there was a scheduling conflict which caused a last minute change in the celebrities that were appearing.  Instead of the originally scheduled “Duel 2” cast members, Jenn Grijalva and Landon Lueck, cast members Rachel Robinson and Eric Banks showed up in replacement.
Robinson is originally from the “Road Rules: Campus Crawl” and Banks is originally from the “Real World/ Road Rules Challenge: Fresh Meat.”
Despite the change, the event went smoothly.  There was music, food, games and entertainment that everyone seemed to enjoy.
Hot wings from Wing Zone, small sandwiches from Submarina California Subs, and both birthday cake and Reese’s peanut butter cup flavored ice cream from Bruster’s were a few of the free treats offered.
Robinson and Banks took turns conducting two contest:, a belly flop contest and a hula hoop show-down.  The hula hoop winner received a $30 “Loco’s Bar and Grill” gift card.  However, the belly flop contest was definitely the one to participate in because the big prize given to the winner was a “Nintendo Wii” system.  The contest was between about five guys and five girls and it came down to the crowd’s favorite, Ansley Shepherd, sophomore VSU student.
“I’m so excited to win the contest: I mean my face hurts but it was a lot of fun,” Shepherd said.  “It’s been a gorgeous day out here with great food, good music and fun times.”
The event was filled with VSU students decked out in their summer bests.  They mingled and partied around the pool, and patiently waited for autographs and pictures with the “Duel 2” stars.
“We do [promotional tours] like this a lot, so it’s always a good time,” Banks said.
Robinson said, “I don’t do too many of these tours anymore because I’m one of the older cast members, but it’s always still fun.”
The event ended with a large crowd still lounging around, not wanting to go home.  People came and saw, ate and partied at Blanton Commons from about 4 to close to 7 in the evening.  Before Banks and Robinson could leave, Robinson made sure to get a message out to all of the MTV viewers.
“Keep watching ‘The Duel 2’ because this is definitely the season to watch,” Robinson said.

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———-The Whole Story ————

Who I am and what I do: Hi, I am Kristal Jones and I am a senior English major concentrating in journalism and I’m the assistant features editor of The Spectator. I am working on my second semester of being on the staff and have already learned so much. I am slowly getting the grasp of patience and learning how to deal with deadlines. I really do enjoy being a part of the staff. Seeing my work published in print is what keeps me going and looking forward to each week.

Why this story is important: When is there ever a celebrity appearance in Valdosta? Not very often. So, I think readers should know all about the event that took place. They should know why there are celebrities in town, where the event was held and how the event turned out.

What I did to get this story: I attended the event at Blanton Commons Apartments and observed my surroundings like a true journalist would. I also spoke with the general manager of the apartments, people who attended the party and the celebrities that were there.