Cutie Casting Call

And the Cutie Medals Go To . . .

Florida Children’s Hospital Unveils the Seven 2008 Cuties who will Appear in Marketing, Events, and Advertising

April 24, 2008 - Orlando, FL - The judges’ scorecards have been tallied, the nearly 30,000 online votes have been counted, and Florida Children’s Hospital has found the seven cuties that will be featured in upcoming advertising, marketing, and special events. Nearly 500 cuties turned out for the Second Annual Florida Children’s Hospital Cutie Casting Call on April 10 at Florida Hospital Altamonte.

Today, the highest scoring cuties in each age category (newborn to 12 months, 13 months to 3 years, and 4 to 6 years), along with the People’s Choice Cutie, who received more than 300 online votes, were honored at a celebration party at Florida Children’s Hospital at Florida Hospital Orlando. The little cuties received Florida Children’s Hospital medals and posed for their very first pictures.

“I was very surprised,” said Cynthia Maners, whose son was one of the selected Cuties in the 13 months to 3 years category. “I mean, we know he’s cute, but it’s a biased opinion normally.”

The 2008 Florida Children’s Hospital Cuties are:

Newborn - 12 months: Jacob Deal (9 months) and Alexander Santos (8 months)

13 months - 3 years (Please note there was a tie in this category): Jaden Huygens (3 years old), Malayna Peterson (3 years old), and Michael Maners (2 years old)

4-6 years: Robbie Rosenblatt (4 years old) and Aiyana Jackson (4 years old)

People’s Choice: Jacob Deal (9 months), also one of the highest scoring cuties in the newborn - 12 months category

“It’s just more meaningful for us to use children in our community than to try to pick a national model off a Web site,” said Marla Silliman, administrator of Florida Children’s Hospital. “We want to identify with the community. We have so many cuties right here locally, and we want families to identify with what we are doing.”

The cuties were scored by a panel of local celebrity judges including news anchors, radio personalities, the Altamonte Springs Mayor, and other Central Florida notables. The People’s Choice Award was given to the cutie with the highest number of online votes.

Florida Children’s Hospital is a 155-bed specialty hospital within a hospital that allows Florida Hospital to deliver a complete range of dedicated pediatric services to younger patients who benefit from the expertise of specialized departments throughout the hospital. Florida Children’s Hospital is served by Kids’ Docs - the largest panel of Pediatric specialists in Orlando. More than 50,000 children are seen annually at Florida Children’s Hospital. Florida Children’s Hospital recently announced a partnership with Disney and will be the first hospital to bear the Disney name.

For additional information, contact Florida Hospital Media Relations at (407) 303-8217.

www.floridahospitalmedicalnews.com