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NMSU students Angela Hardenburg, left, and Brandi Parrell need your vote to be mtvU correspondents at the 83rd Academy Awards.

LAS CRUCES - Two New Mexico State University students have a shot at becoming television correspondents Feb. 27 at the 83rd annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. To get there, they need your vote.

Brandi Parrell and Angela Hardenburg, who each work for KRWG-TV News22, submitted a two-minute video describing why they should win the annual mtvU Oscars Correspondent Contest. The duo are among 10 finalists, along with teams from Hofstra University, Madonna University, New York University, University of Georgia, University of Miami, University of Missouri and University of California Los Angeles.

"It feels unreal to be up for this with other universities that dominate the journalism world," said Parrell, a junior pursuing a degree in journalism and mass communications.

Each of the semifinalists' submission videos are on the mtvU website. People who log in and register can vote for which duo they believe would make the best correspondent crew. People are allowed one vote daily. Voting began Monday, and will continue through Jan. 28.

The top-three vote-getting teams will be considered finalists and will make another video to be voted on Feb. 7-18 on the mtvU website.

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The top three teams will also be flown out to Los Angeles Feb. 24-28 to partake in events for the Academy Awards. The grand prize winners will be announced Feb. 26. Each member of the winning team will receive a $100 clothing allowance and will report live from the red carpet before the show. All finalists will get to sit in the bleacher seats during the Academy Awards show.

Parrell is a co-anchor, producer and reporter for News22, a student-run program that airs three times a week during the school year. Hardenburg is behind the camera, acting as the station's chief editor and photographer.

"Together we wrote, filmed and edited a video we felt really made a strong case for us to be selected as correspondents for the 2011 Oscars," said Hardenburg, a senior planning to graduate in May with a degree in digital filmmaking.

"All we can really do now is ask for support from family, friends, co-workers, fellow students and the surrounding community in the form of votes. Every vote counts," she said.

To cast your vote for the team of Parrell and Hardenburg, go mtvu.com, create an account and click on the link for the contest, or go directly to http://www.mtvu.com/shows/shows-featured-content/oscars-correspondent-contest-top-10/.

Sylvia Quintanilla is a freelance writer and can be reached at sylviaq02@gmail.com.