Google UAE, hosted the first part of an exciting international initiative for young students called "Doodle 4 Google - I love Football". The competition invites four to seventeen year olds from 38 nationalities to design their own Google logo inspired by the topic "I love football". The contest has two levels: national and international, with the winning Doodle set to be displayed internationally on the Google homepage for a day on July 11th 2010. This will be the first ever international Doodle 4 Google competition.
In the UAE, Google worked with Children's City to host over 170 students from schools across the country on May 16th to participate in the contest, and redesign the Google logo in the spirit of football. From all UAE submissions judges were asked to select the top ten Doodles, which will then be put to a public vote from June 1st to 7th to decide the UAE winner. The national winning Doodle will be displayed on the Google homepage for 24 hours on Google MENA domains.
Bringing out a whirlwind of artistic talent, each students Doodle depicted a brilliant array of individual flair, making it extremely tough for judges to narrow the Doodles to the top ten. Doodles were judged on artistic merit, creativity and how well the entrant expressed their love of football in the title and supporting statement. The UAE semi-finalist are; Noyona Biswas, Krishna Bala Shensi, Saleem Mohammed Markabiah, Aeren Jan Samera, Alston Rodriguez, Rimsha Kidwai, Kholud Yasser Mansour, Alia Abdul Aziz, Amiroddh S. Menon and Maria Shane Mesine.
Judged by members of the Google team, Virgin radio duo Kris Fade and Chad Manes, Emirati artist Jalal Luqman and directors from the Dubai Culture and Arts Authorty, and Shaikha Al Reesi from Dubai Children city, the chosen semi finalists will now enter a week long public voting phase with the winning Doodle set to be announced on June 14th and displayed on MENA Google domains, in addition to winning a digital drawing board. The winner will also automatically enter the global ‘I Love Football’ competition with other top designs selected from around the 17 countries, and become part of an opportunity to display their doodle on the global Google homepage and win four tickets and expense paid holiday to South Africa. International voting will take place from June 21st to 28th. Users are encouraged to log on to www.google.com to place their vote.
“Google Doodles are part of our culture and we are very excited about this competition. Doodles aim to celebrate different people, events or special dates such as holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists and scientists. We strongly encourage residents to log on to www.google.ae from June 1st and vote!” added Ghonim.
The Doodle 4 Google event was attended by local art students, teachers and members of the Google Middle East team, who provided creative support to the contestants. Children at the event were given a brief history of the Doodle, followed by several hours allocated to create their design and the opportunity to join in face painting and other activities.
Be a part of the Google wave, and vote for the top UAE doodle to enter the international competition! Voting for the UAE “I Love Football” doodle can be done at www.google.ae and other localized Google domains across MENA.
