Talk Show Idol

One of the reasons I started experimenting with podcasting a few years ago was because of a desire I'd had to host a radio program in which I could interview authors, talk about books, music and pop culture and engage guests in lively discussion and debate.

Of course, given that I never acquired the proper equipment to do interviews properly in the podcast world, I ended up doing some podcasts where I've read samples of my own writing followed up with talking about the act of writing, the creative process and the behind the scenes of putting fiction together. (That "behind the scenes" look at my writing is something I still get great feedback from even today, some 4 years after I released ONE HAND SCREAMING, a collection of my previously published fiction and poetry complete with the "behind the screams notes on the stories)

But when I saw the call for contestants for AM900 CHML's Talk Show Idol come out, my first thought was: A real studio, real equipment, real professionals, a cool demographic -- the perfect opportunity for me to give it the old "college try."

And I'm proud to announce that I made it past that first "board room" interview cut and am a contestant with 3 other aspiring and quite talented hopefuls on Week 5 of CHML's Talk Show Idol.

On Wednesday May 14th, I'll be on three spots.

7:50am Bob & Shiona will ask me a series of current events questions over 2 minutes. This will judge how up on the news I am.

12:05pm: I will RANT for 60 seconds on a topic of my choice. (So very hard for me to narrow this down to just 1 rant and to a mere 60 seconds)

4:50pm: Scott Thompson will host ’60 Seconds of Straight Talk’. Scott will give me a random word and I'll have to speak for 60 seconds on that topic without pauses, etc.

And then on Friday May 16th between 2:00 and 2:30 PM, I'll be in the studio with Scott Thompson and a panel of 3 judges who will critique my performance filling 10 minutes of air time with whatever I choose. (I'm thinking I might trying juggling - that makes for great radio, doesn't it?)

Whether you're in Hamilton or not (ie, within broadcast range), you can still listen live to the program (click the LISTEN LIVE button in the top right corner of the CHML website or go to the Idol pages and listen to a recording of the segments.