India Arie's Seattle | Plugged In - Yahoo! Screen

India.Arie’s Seattle: Get Plugged In!

In this episode of the online competition series “Plugged In,” Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter India.Arie takes viewers to Seattle, where she puts our six contestants to the test with new challenges of stamina, problem solving and driving skills. The contestants, working in teams of two and using the all-new 2012 Ford Focus Electric, unravel India.Arie’s clues about her favorite Emerald City locations and activities, which lead them on adventurous challenges, uniquely linked to India.Arie’s personal life. The teams compete to earn “butterfly” points, with the ultimate goal of representing Seattle in the finale and competing with winners in nine other cities for a chance to win the all-new Focus Electric.

Our first challenge takes the contestants to a local music store, Dusty Strings. Established in 1979, Dusty Strings builds instruments such as harps and dulcimers, offers musical classes, and is one of India.Arie’s favorite places in Seattle. Here, each team will have 15 minutes to write, compose, and practice an original song. A panel selected by India.Arie and consisting of the Dusty Strings’ manager, a local harpist, and a local recording artist will pick the best song.

For the second challenge, India.Arie sends the team participants on a scavenger hunt to visit some of her most beloved locations in the Seattle area. The contestants must try to reach as many as possible during the allotted time, taking a picture in each location and uploading their photo to Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/groups/fordpluggedin/.

Our first location is Plum Bistro, where teams must snap a photo in front of the restaurant to earn butterfly points. India.Arie first stumbled across this vegan restaurant online while on tour, but it quickly grew to become one of her favorite restaurants in Seattle. Benaroya Hall, home to the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, is another stop on the scavenger hunt. The singer kicked off her Open Door tour here last year. She also can’t get enough of jewelry and fun boutiques, and her shop of choice in Seattle is The Finerie. India’s mother is a designer, so whenever she attends one of her fashion shows her attention is always drawn to the jewelry.

The final challenge takes the contestants to Alki Kayak Tours where they get to experience India.Arie’s favorite feature of the Emerald City: the water. Teams compete in a kayak race, taking off from Alki Beach Park and circling back for a sprint to the finish. The team finishing first will win the challenge and move on to the finale in Los Angeles for their chance to win a brand new Ford Focus Electric.