Man hangs on to ‘Hannah Montana’ statue for 6 days to win concert tickets

TAMPA, Fla. – Some people will do anything to make a kid happy.\nJody Powell, 35, hung on to a 12-foot statue of “Hannah Montana” for the better part of six days to win tickets to a sold-out concert by Miley Cyrus, star of the Disney Channel TV show. The concert will be held next week in Tampa.\n“I’m ecstatic. It’s like a dream come true,” Powell said, holding four tickets to the show and a photo of his fiancee with her 7-year-old daughter, also named Hannah.\nTwenty contestants started Nov. 8, placing a hand on the 400-pound statue in the parking lot of radio station WFLZ-FM, the contest’s sponsor. They were allowed 12-minute breaks every three hours and got catered meals, but weren’t allowed books, cell phones \nor iPods.\nPowell was declared the winner Wednesday afternoon when the other remaining contestant, Lara Padgett, became distracted and let go.\n“That sun really got to me today,” Padgett said, who later was checked out at a hospital because she wasn’t feeling well. “I took my hand off the fur-lined boot.”\nBut the two had already made a deal. Powell gets the tickets, and Padgett will use the two backstage passes that are part of the prize package. They’ll split a $5,000 cash prize.