Voting to begin on 'Simpson' premiere site

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., June 28 (UPI) -- The gauntlet's been thrown and the challenge accepted by 14 Springfields in the United States vying to host the premiere of "The Simpsons Movie" next month.

Once videos are posted on a designated Web site, fans will choose the winning community by popular vote. But no one's sure when the videos will be posted on thesimpsons.usatoday.com, The Springfield (Ill.) State Journal-Register reported Thursday.

"Can we say early next week? (It) all depends on when we can get the videos from our partner." said Alexandra Nicholson, spokeswoman for USA Today.

The partner is movie studio 20th Century Fox, which collected the videos and sent them to a facility to ensure they're clear and in the highest resolution format, a spokesperson said.

"It just takes time," the spokesperson said. "It could be tonight, it could be the end of the week, it could be Monday."

The Web site will be set up so voters can make one selection per day, the movie studio representative said. Balloting ends July 9.

Every Springfield entering the competition has some souvenirs. The studio, which gave each town a camera, a couch, a giant donut and large plastic figures of the Simpson family, said the cities can keep the equipment and props.