[Speed Gibson,
Saturday May 21, 2005 at 12:27am]
Ain't No Thing - Week 11
Tony at Always Right, Usually Correct has been a faithful reader of my commentary on KSTP's Sunday afternoon "The Next Big Thing" from 2-4pm. We agree that while the concept sounded fun, it seems to be coming up short. Despite a couple of recent "successes", Tony asked a good question: where is this going?
I was tempted to stop after week 10, but I was out walking Sunday afternoon, so I listened live. So now, maybe week 12 will be it. In fact, I think I'll write a note to ask Joe O'Brien where he thinks it's going.
Once again, we are presented with the question: is this week's host an amateur? John Caile is a professional firearms instructor and very involved with the passage of the Minnesota Personal Protection Act (MPPA). He obviously has logged considerable time on the stump, no doubt some of it on the radio.
Mr. Caile was very good, very smooth, and only spent maybe half the time on the MPPA. Were he a true amateur, I'd give him a high grade, but the ruling from this chair is otherwise. He's a pro, and therefore gets Pass/Fail grading, earning a magna cum laude "P" for his efforts.
So one more show this weekend, and then maybe a recap post.
I was tempted to stop after week 10, but I was out walking Sunday afternoon, so I listened live. So now, maybe week 12 will be it. In fact, I think I'll write a note to ask Joe O'Brien where he thinks it's going.
Once again, we are presented with the question: is this week's host an amateur? John Caile is a professional firearms instructor and very involved with the passage of the Minnesota Personal Protection Act (MPPA). He obviously has logged considerable time on the stump, no doubt some of it on the radio.
Mr. Caile was very good, very smooth, and only spent maybe half the time on the MPPA. Were he a true amateur, I'd give him a high grade, but the ruling from this chair is otherwise. He's a pro, and therefore gets Pass/Fail grading, earning a magna cum laude "P" for his efforts.
So one more show this weekend, and then maybe a recap post.
You asked where Joe O'Brien thinks he's going? Well, I can tell you he is legitimately looking for "The Next Big Thing". His job is to find new talent anyhow, anywhere. A good friend of mine and I put together an audition last month for the program. Mr O'Brien called us a few days later and asked us to meet with him at his office. He stated that radio talent comes from a variety of backgrounds which is why he's having this "open mike". Why, just look at the KSTP personalities' backgrounds: Joe Soucheray - newspaper columnist; Ron Rosenbaum - lawyer; Tommy Mischke - caller.
I hope you continue to listen because my colleague and I will make quite an impression, IMHO, once we get a shot. As we left our meeting with Joe O'Brien, he simply stated "I'm going to be doing this a while." At the time we met with him, he had received 60 auditions. I have no clue how many he considered "showing promise." That seems to be the only prerequisite to getting a shot on the air.
Thanks for your reviews, Speed. I don't often get to listen live.
Brad
1) Marty &I got that same speech about talent from everywhere when we were asked to kick off the Next Big Thing. (A death in the family prevented us from being first, we ended up being second instead.)
2) I heard through the grapevine a different answer to the question, "Where's it going?" I heard from a reliable source that Joe may be leaving KSTP. When? I do not know. What happens to the Next Big Thing if/when Joe goes? Good question.
Good luck to you, Brad. Most important thing: have fun...and don't get a migraine the morning of like I did that whole weekend.