Enter to win a chance to #BREAKFREE from everyday life with a trip to Miami!

You and a guest could win an all-expense paid trip to Miami — plus, the lucky grand prize winner will also receive two Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE phones and $500 in spending money. After you enter the contest, be sure to share it with your friends on Facebook or Twitter to double your chances of winning!

Two grand prize winnerswill each receive: Hotel and airfare for two Two Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE phones $500 spending money Contest ends on: 3/31 at 11:59PM EST

Share with your friends here, or by using your Samsung Victory with the hashtag #BREAKFREE

Source: Virgin Mobile Presents: #BREAKFREE Flyaway Sweepstakes

Contest update: Live Nation Global Touring has confirmed that the remainder of the Lady Gaga Born This Way Ball performances have been canceled. The Lady Gaga #BreakFree To Miami Sweepstakes has been suspended until further notice.

Please check back for more updates.

RECENT SUBMISSIONS

Calling all little monsters! Upload a pic of your best Lady Gaga outfit to win tickets to see her live in Miami. Note: Sharing the contest with friends will double your chances of winning!

Source: Virgin Mobile Presents: #BREAKFREE to Miami Sweepstakes

Lady Gaga’s Born this Way Ball stormed the Xcel Energy Center last night. Don’t believe the critics. Here’s what really happened.

Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Ball took over the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul last night and I was lucky enough to be part of the 15 thousand plus crowd and I had a great time. Many compare Lady Gaga to Madonna and let me tell you, there are similarities, but one glaring difference between the two is that Lady Gaga respects her fans. The opening act was set to hit the stage at 7:30 and it began…wait for it…on time!

The curtain dropped to reveal a three story medieval castle stage setting and the place went nuts.

Lady Gaga hit the stage shortly after 8 and of course made a spectacle, riding out on a horse with her dancers accompanying her as she did Highway Unicorn, followed up by Government Hooker. There was a weird Wizard of Oz like Gaga head that came floating down from the ceiling in a cage and was speaking about giving birth to a new race and a new society and then Gaga came out and gave birth to herself and busted into Born This Way.

There were more songs off The Fame and The Fame Monster than I thought there would be so I was pleasantly surprised when she did Bad Romance. She also did Just Dance, Love Game and Telephone, much to the delight of this Little Monster.

She then launched into Hair, Electric Chapel, Bad Kids, The Queen and You and I and even gave Minnesota a shout out when she sang the line, “My Daddy, Minnesota and Jesus Christ”. After five such high energy dance numbers, she did a little stop down and sat at her piano. She talked about her family and her grandpa and how much she missed them. She talked about growing up in New York and being very close with her Mom and Dad and told the story about how Edge of Glory came to be and gave a very heartfelt and soulful solo piano version of the song and then she called a lucky fan named Chelsea and invited her to come back stage after the show and have tea with her. She also played Born This Way on the piano and sang to Chelsea. She thanked her for picking up the phone because Gaga’s tour sponsor, Virgin Mobile just donated five thousand dollars to a homeless youth shelter in St. Paul by her picking up the phone. Very cool. The bit with the phone call did seem a tad disjointed and would have made more sense if she had done it before Telephone like she did last time she was here in 2010, but still great they donated the money and cool for lucky young Chelsea.

The show picked up again with her guitar player who did an acoustic latin infused solo to keep us entertained as there was no doubt a costume change coming and sure enough, there was the meat dress as she launched into Americano. Of course, it resembles something like beef jerky now, but it was the meat dress! Gaga jumped into a meat grinder during the number and then did Poker Face before another costume change, the appearance of a meat couch and then Alejandro, another costume change, Paparazzi and then Scheisse. She wished us all well and goodnight, but we knew that wasn’t it. She hadn’t done Marry the Night yet! That was her encore and seven super lucky fans got to dance with Gaga on stage and then the show really was over.

Being lucky enough to have been to her Monster Ball Show in 2010 so I have something to compare it to, I thought that the 2010 show may have been a little bit better. There was a story to it as her and her friends needed to make their way to the Monster Ball so there were theatrics involved with that show and you became invested in it more.

Don’t get me wrong, she has proven why she is one of the biggest pop stars in the world and she does know how to put on a show, but she may have been more energetic last time around. There was more to look at during the costume changes this time, but sometimes I felt like she leaned a little too heavily on her backing track. She is a talented piano player, and she also picked up the keytar and guitar for this one, but the piano is definitely her favorite instrument.

Overall, it was fun. She talked a lot to the audience about being brave and not listening to other people when they talk badly about you and to just ignore the haters. Love yourself, love your friends and love your family. It was a very positive message.

Her new album ARTPOP is slated to come out later this year.

This year The U of M Extension Discovery Area was THE spot to be, with a flight simulator, Aquatic, Wind and Lego Robotics. The kids were amazed and parents fascinated by the intricate workings. Freebies were plentiful and it seemed like everyone connected with exhibitors that had solutions, ideas or something fun to do.

GREAT Theatre stunned the crowd with amazing performances from their production of ‘THE WIZ’, the Juggler in the Yellow Hat got the crowd going with tricks and spell-binding bowling pin handling, and the Martial Arts demo was a thrill.

Unfortunately, NO CAPTURE of The MIX 94.9 $5000 Fugitive! But the good news is, we inducted over 500 new Bounty Hunters who swear they will apprehend the villain.

Check out the pictures of all the fun!

Last weekend, my family decided we were fed up with working and chores and we were going to have some fun. We found it at 101 Market in Otsego.

If giant bouncy pumpkins, pedal cart races, a petting zoo, a corn maze, potato slingers, a haunted mortuary, a corn pit and animal train rides sound like fun – this is the place for you. (And if you need help in the maze, we’ve got it figured out.)

Just page thru the gallery, right click and save it to your desktop! Use it for your FB profile or just share it with your friends!

St. Cloud Fire Department Battalion Chief Jerry Raymond says the group was tubing down the river when they got into trouble.

The Sauk River is very high right now, and is at flood stage due to the recent heavy rains.

The incident began around 3:00 p.m. and by 3:30 p.m. everyone had been pulled to safety.

It’s the fifth year of Humphrie’s clinic, but it’s the first year it’s required police barricades. Kim was a gracious guest, signing autographs for the kids and a few onlookers, but she didn’t offer a peep to the press or the crowds that had gathered.

The E! film crew of Keeping Up With The Kardashians WAS on-hand and was filming, but they offered no insight as how the footage would be used. Our newsman Jim Maurice and Weekend Diva Lynn made it past security for a picture or two, both of Kim and the great kids participating in the clinic.

You can get more about the clinic and hear an interview here.

MIX 94.9′s Peter K and the MIX Entourage rolled in for the fun and found everyone from visiting State Representative Steve Gottwalt and the cutest little Dairy Princess to wild kid candy grabbers at the all day event. The MIX Paparazzi caught all the action in this huge collection of photos and the video below.

Stearns County Emergency Management Director Marv Klug says there have been no reports of serious injuries so far.  The Stearns County Sheriff’s Department is also reporting no injuries so far.  But, there’s widespread damage throughout the county.

Klug says the towns around St. Cloud are returning to normal as of 9:00 p.m.  However, street crews are still clearing debris in St. Cloud.  It appears the hospital neighborhood was among the hardest hit.  Klug says from Hester Park to 22nd Avenue, and from the downtown area northward, has a lot of tree damage.  There are some reports of structural damage, but those reports are not widespread.  Red Cross volunteers are going house to house right now getting a more specific estimate of the damaged areas.

Klug is asking the public to stay home — emergency crews are having trouble making their way around all the gawkers.

Klug says there was a confirmed tornado touchdown near Rockville.  Residents in that area report hearing a train-like sound.

The damage in the St. Cloud metro area was most likely caused by straight-line winds.  Several reports from listeners of street flooding, large hail, downed trees, and power outages.

Xcel Energy is reporting about 19,000 customers in the Central Minnesota area are without power at about 8:00 p.m.

East Central Energy reports about 6,300 of their customers are without power at 8:30 p.m.  They estimate 24-26 hours before power can be fully restored to all of their customers.

There were reports of flooding on Highway 10 in east St. Cloud, which backed up traffic during the storm, the State Patrol says by 8:00 p.m. the flood waters had receded and traffic was flowing once again.

McLeod County Emergency Management Director Kevin Mathews says the roof was torn off a Hutchinson animal medical center, and two semis were blown off highways.

Send your storm pictures to us. We’ll put them in our gallery.

Our MIX 94.9 Facebook friends have also posted more pics and videos on our Facebook wall. Check them out as well.

The new 2nd Princess is Kelly Elness.

The First Princess is Ashley Bukowski.

And the 2011 Miss Sauk Rapids Queen is Candyce Thompson.

This year the Little Lemons Art Park was especially hopping with youngsters exploring their creative sides. The Little Lemons Art Park and the Farmer’s Market (new this year) will be going on until 6 tonight. Then at 7pm, St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis presents the Mayor’s ‘Rock-On Awards’ during the opening ceremonies of Granite City Days. The St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra performs at 8pm on the Atwood Mall.

Crews set up barricades to keep people out of the affected areas.

Officially they measured only half an inch at the airport (?!)- At the station we recorded about an inch, but we’ve had listeners report more:
-2″ in Sauk Rapids
-3″ at 25th Avenue
-3″ at 10th Avenue North
-4 1/2″ at 7th Avenue South

Videographer Steven Sohlstrom of FlightFlash.com documented some of the flooding.
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Where were you when the heavy rains hit? Tell us your story in the comments section below-

The production on this show was amazing. The staging, lights, set design, band, dancers, fireworks… that’s right, fireworks. Even the smell of incense wafting through the arena at perfectly timed intervals. Taylor sounded great. At times you could get a glimpse of her young clumsy awkwardness, but it was purely a body language thing and let’s not forget she hasn’t been in the game that long and she’s still a young pup.

Her banter with the audience –  a very wide demographic – was perfect and she kept the crowd pumped up at all times. Where I really give her and her production people cred is how she managed to work every inch of that arena from top to bottom and front to back. She jumped off stage ran through the sold out audience and headed to the very back where she then camped out and performed 4 consecutive numbers. One of which was “Fearless”. She played guitar and ukulele all while sitting under a tree which rotated. People who moments early were thinking they should have sprung for better seats, temporarily became the first row.

She ended the night with ”Romeo & Juliet” and sang it from a balcony which was floating high atop the audience and went completely around the full expanse of the arena. Almost every number felt like a Broadway production and was brought to life through beautiful visualization and her desire to get as close to the audience as possible.

Taylor set the bar high and proved what a pop crossover artist can do. Whether you were male or female, Young or old, this was a mass appeal show that didn’t disappoint.

Kudos to her management and production team and special thanks to the good folks at Xcel. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… The X is one of the finest places to see a concert. Easy in, easy out and great acoustics. Not something easily accomplished in the arena world.

Alright. It’s 3am. Seems like a good time to head back into the lab. I’ve got a killer show I’m working on for this weekend.