Avenue Q Dismisses Contest Finalists in Favor of 'George Bush' Lyric

After holding a nationwide contest late last year to search for a lyric to replace "George Bush is only for now" in the show's finale and choosing four winners and even holding a press conference to announce them from over 2000 submissions, Broadway’s Avenue Q has changed its mind.

The show’s creators, Tony winners Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx and Jeff Whitty, have dismissed the contest’s winning lyrics “Prop 8”—which will still be used during the tour’s California dates, “recession,” “your mother-in-law” and “this show” after test-driving them onstage, in favor of "George Bush WAS only for now." The latter entry, submitted by Brian Barnett of Defiance, Ohio, was not a publicized finalist of the contest, but is now apparently the winner.

Whitty explained that the contest winners never received the audience response that the original lyric did. However, the original lyric obviously did not have the same impact once President Obama took office. "We now know that although George Bush's presidency was only for now," Lopez noted, "the comic potential of 'George Bush' seems like it may last forever."