Posted on Friday, 12th August 2005 by Patrick Dorwin
FINALLY! The final three are being introduced
- (7:35) Sounds like they will be dragging this out for a half hour… They will be cutting out a contestant one at a time. They gave Nicole a dead microphone…
- (7:37) No one realizes they are passing a dead mic around…Okay, they noticed finally.
- (7:41) The first contestant to be eliminated is Chris T.
Jerry Bott did say that we shouldn’t be surprised to hear Chris on his radio station is some fashion in the future… He better be! - (7:52) Second person eliminated is Michelle
- Nicole is Milwaukee’s Next Talkstar! Congratulations
Personal Opinion: The Winner of Milwaukee’s Talkstar Compitition is… WTMJ Radio
Here is the audio, I have clipped it down to about 21 minutes. (.wma audio)
Today is the day
Well, it’s Friday night… The Milwaukee Talkstar website STILL says the winner would be named four days ago. There is no reference to when it will actually happen, but if I remember correctly, it will happen at 7:30 tonight, I plan to try to catch it, but this delay and lack of promotion is a real downer.
If anyone can confirm the time before it happens, I’d appreciate it.
If anyone is at the State Fair and gets pictures, I would love to see them and with your permission, post some of them. As much as I have been grousing, I really do wish I would have been able to get there. Good Luck!
To read the full coverage, follow the link below.
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Final Hour
Well, the on-air tryouts are over, today each of the final three got an hour to make a final impression before voting. I have to admit that I didn’t hear all of any of the contestants shows, but I did catch parts of all of them. Since I didn’t catch all of today’s shows I will just end with a final observation.
Everyone seemed to do a decent job, but what I thought as I listened was “safe”. I was expecting at least one person to come out with something hard hitting or provocative so they would stand out of the crowd, but that didn’t happen. They all did good, but safe jobs, nothing spectacular…Too bad.
Overall my opinion is, the competition was won by Chris T, he sounds professional and comfortable behind the microphone. I don’t feel it was even all that close, but I think the vote will be much closer than I see it.
Round 4
Thursday, August 04, 2005: Chris T.
Chris nailed it again! He is by far the most professional sounding contestant. He is the only one that can transition between callers and sound comfortable doing it. He had good call response and interacts really good with the callers.
I missed parts of the beginning of the show, but he seemed to answer the questions from Belling about the political affiliations of the contestants. He did give another nice plug to this humble little blog (I need to start recording this guy! 
) He also gave Larry a shout out at Gibbsville Unincorporated, who is also reviewing these shows.
Chris’ segment on the space program could have been written by me! I couldn’t believe that anyone was so in step with my thought on the subject, right down to the analogy of the parachuting from a plane, he said it seconds after I thought it, that was almost scary!
His topic on his huge cell phone bill was great, but by the time it was done, I would bet it was no longer a secret to his wife…I’ll bet she was waiting at the door when he got home, hands on hips and tapping a toe… Been there, done that!
My opinion is that Chris is the most professional sounding competitor this contest has had. A few others have done good jobs, but they sound like the amateurs that they are, Chris has a talent for this and a personality that can make this work!
Tomorrow each contestant gets a final hour, I expect Chris to knock it out of the park!
Wednesday, August 03, 2005: Nicole D.
My first impression was that Nicole sounded flat this morning, just before the end of the show, she mentioned that her lack of sleep was catching up to her, and it really was noticeable, at least to me.
Nicole started with a talk about the Air France crash yesterday afternoon, I didn’t hear the entire conversation, but she talked about how miraculous is was that everyone survived the fiery crash.
When I was able to tune back in, she was talking about being friends with an ex spouse, she was wondering if her own experience of remaining friends with her ex-husband was common. She also strayed into “divorce parties” where people would celebrate their divorce.
He last topic was a question of what she and a group of six people could do to stay entertained on a long road trip in the same car. I don’t feel that this was a strong ending topic for Nicole. Like Michelle yesterday, the show ended with a whimper, not a Bang. I would think they would want to leave the audience wanting more.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005: Michelle H.
Michelle started thing out for the week, she continues to do a good job. She needs to work on her transition to callers though.
We got to see a little fire from her this morning, I enjoyed her comments about Raphael Palmero. She was a probation agent and is now an Assistant District Attorney and she made a comment like, “I wish I had a dollar every time I heard an excuse like Palmero is using”. She also talked briefly about the Milwaukee area rapist that used a “police” type light and fake badge to rape a young woman. Coming from an A.D.A. lends her comments credibility.
Michelle also defended herself against comments from Mark Belling and others that she was a liberal, she listed her conservative credentials. I have felt all along that she is basically conservative, but she has shown a few liberal tendencies
I did disagree with her comments about Sheriff David Clarke, she really doesn’t seem to like him. While Clarke has mishandled the events of the past week, her dislike seemed to go deeper. She made one comment that I really disagreed with, it was words to the effect that David Clarke has to follow Sheriff Union rules.
Michelle brought back her “Go Ride Your Bike” segment, it is basically a way of naming people that you want to tell to just go away, and is a good idea for a fun segment.
I felt that she ended with a bit of a fizzle, the topic was about bachelor parties and strip clubs, the topic lost me, but she did get some calls, so maybe it was just me.
Advancing to Round 4
As I predicted, Chris T., Michelle H. & Nicole D. have moved on to the final three, congratulations to them all.
The rest of the schedule is as follows:
- Tuesday, August 2nd
Michelle H (6:05 – 8:30) - Wednesday, August 3rd
Nicole D (6:05 – 8:30) - Thursday, August 4th
Chris T. (6:05 – 8:30) - Friday, August 5th
Nicole D. (5:30 – 6:30)
Chris T. (6:30 – 7:30)
Michelle H. (7:30 – 8:30)
The winner will be announced on Monday, August 8th.
To view the complete coverage of all contestants follow the link below.
- Remember, voting is open until noon Monday at MilwaukeeTalkStar.com
Round Three
Polls Are Open at MilwaukeeTalkStar.com. You can vote until noon on Monday.
For my final comments on Round 3, scroll down or click here
Friday, July 29, 2005: Andy B.
Andy did a decent job, he’s a little to…calm for my taste. I don’t want to say he is boring, because he is not, but he is more soft spoken than the rest and again, I wasn’t excited by a contestant.
Andy had some good topics, but he didn’t stick with them long enough, his topic on the “7 wonders of the world” morphed into the 7 wonders of Wisconsin. He had good call interaction and it could have been an outstanding topic if he would have stayed with it longer.
He also talked a few minutes about the closing of a Milwaukee institution, The National Liquor Bar, this should have been developed more. Jeff Wagner did a similar topic, starting with the bar closing and moved into a talk about all of he other things we long time Milwaukee residents remember, it was a really good segment, people like talking about things like that.
Thursday, July 28, 2005 Chris T.
First, I want to thank Chris for the kind words and the on-air plug, that was very nice of you, especially after I called you an anti-smoking Nazi 
That said, now I can commence to tear him apart… 
All week I have been saying that I was looking for someone to stand out. This morning, just after 6:30, Chris did that. He was the first person to make me feel like he deserved this job, as Paula Abdul would say on American Idol, Chris “made it his own!” Caller response was good, as were his topic selection and he is very natural with the callers.
Great Job Chris!
Note: Larry agrees
Wednesday, July 27, 2005: Nicole D
Nicole did a good job, she is easy to listen to, but her topic selection didn’t stand out for me. In past shows she has been a little more controversial, I didn’t agree with her opinions, but it was more memorable than today’s show. The only thing I really have to disagree with her about today is the fact that she is a Mac user
I’m still waiting to be wowed by a contestant, I hope someone is able to grab the audience and take this job.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005: Mike C.
Mike started out a bit weak, he blew through several topics quickly, never giving them time to develop. His topic selection is okay, but not great, we are coming to the end and I think these folks need to impress us.
I did like his idea to have Judge Roberts turn the table and start asking Teddy Kennedy questions
If Mike is going to stick around, he really needs to work on his transition between calls. He seems to get lost when he goes to the next caller.
Monday, July 25, 2005: Michelle H
This was the first show that Michelle has done that I enjoyed the content of. Cracks about Teddy Kennedy is always a good way to start.
She talked about Judge Roberts being named to the Supreme Court. She likes the pick but seems to have a bit of a problem that the pick wasn’t a women.
Michelle also talked about the housing market, is there a bubble in Milwaukee? Also her concerns that lenders are making it too easy for people to become overextended, something I agree with her about
Overall, Michelle did a nice job, when she started, her speech was, a bit… halting. That’s the best way I can describe it. As the show want on, she became more fluid in her speech pattern, my suggestion, gulp a few cups of coffee before the show 
Side note on Round Three
I just want to wish all of the final five the best of luck. I know I have had critical comments about some of the contestants, I wont change how I view things, but everyone starts with a clean slate. I will always give my honest opinion.
To view my comments on round one and two, click the link below, also, don’t miss the exchange we have had in the Comments section of this post. Chris T and I have had a bit of a feud running, but I respect him and wish him the best of luck.
Round Two Begins
Saturday, July 15, 2005
The final day of Round Two, sorry I’m a little late posting this
Contestant 1: Allen E
I like the show title he has chosen, “The Edge of Sanity”, a take off on his last name, Edge. I like Allen’s style, but he doesn’t take a firm stance on things, he did a smoking ban topic, he is for the ban, but he was vacillating, agreeing with people from both sides, to me personally it was like listening to Public Radio. Also, when he has something planned out to say, he does it well, but the ad-lib seem to be his weak point,, but that is a must when you are along on the radio.
Allen ended with a topic that I felt could have been a good one, it was about passing along to your kids a sense of getting into a line of work that you love doing. I think this could have been a winning topic, but he started it minutes before the end of his show, no time for calls. As Belling says, start with your best stuff, this is what I think he should have started with.
Contestant 2: Mike C
Mike started with a topic of people changing jobs and the reasons they do it. It was pretty good. His next topic had a chance to be a really good one, “what has left of changed in Milwaukee that you miss?” This had good caller feedback as people reminisced about old attractions from Milwaukee’s past. Mike was not born here, but seems to have been here several years, but didn’t know what the Love Rock was, a sure sign that he wasn’t here when I was growing up
Today’s vote… A tough one for me, but I went with Mike on this one.
** Note to readers: There are some interesting exchanges on the comments section of this post, including comments from a few of the contestants.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Contestant 1: Dan M
In my review of Dan’s first show, I mentioned that he was a Libertarian, now he is calling himself a Libertarian Republican. He started his show with an attack on religion and religious republicans. His second topic was I guess the abundance of lesbian cows in Wisconsin…or something. He was talking about seeing two cows with utters, umm…Well, one was “mounting” the other.
Contestant 2: Andy B
Andy started by talking about genetic engineering children… Hitler would have liked this idea, but I’ll leave playing God to God. He claims this would reduce medical costs by being able to engineer prime kids I guess. The only drawback he seen was that there might be natural/engineered discrimination.
Tonight’s vote… None of the above. I expect Dan to advance, but I don’t think either deserves to be called a winner today.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Contestant 1: Chris T
I missed the first half hour of the show, but the second half was a continuation of the first. Chris T was on an anti-smoking rant, he made it clear that he wants to savage private property owners rights by imposing a nation wide smoking ban. He believes that his rights take precedence over the rights of the owner of a business. I will not vote for a smoking Nazi.
Contestant 2: Joe K
Joe did a good job, he has his “ahh” problem under control His topic today was one that always get’s decent call volume, let people vent about bad service they received from a business. And starting with a “Don Miguel” joke didn’t hurt
Joe get’s my vote today, but check my extra thoughts on yesterday’s show below…
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Contestant 1: Michelle H
Another nice job, her “Go Ride Your Bike” topic could be a fun regular feature, basically it is caller telling us who they wish would just go away!
Contestant 2: Pat C
I like Pat’s topics, his hunting license fee hike topic spread out into a general Doyle bash (that’s always a good thing). I didn’t get to hear much of his talk on kids with cell phones, but I did like the little I heard.
Today, Tuesday the 12th my vote goes for Michelle, but this was a hard choice for me. I liked both contestants and wish they both had more time. I still wonder if Michelle is willing to give up her career as an Assistant District Attorney though… She didn’t sound very convincing in her week one pre-show interview.
** UPDATE: More thoughts on July 12 show
- Larry has some good thoughts posted in the comments of his blog, I suggest checking them out.
- There has been talk all along about “fixing” the vote in this compitition, with Michelle’s admission that she had an email campaign to get votes doesn’t sit well with me, personally, if I had heard that part of the show, it may have changed my vote, this competition should be for the loyal listeners, we are the ones that have to deal with the eventual winner or change our listening habits.
- There has been talk from the start of this that there may be a concerted effort to get a liberal host on WISN, this is something that even Mark Belling mentioned on his radio show, could this be the reason that Monday’s contestant Nicole has won again? Just a thought, but it is something I have noticed both days she has been on… Just a thought.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Contestant 1: Nicole D
I like Nicole’s voice, but her topic material was a bit weak today. Again, she showed her liberal leanings, so for me personally, that is a turn off. Also, I found her discussion of the Milwaukee Bucks using Andrew Bogut (she calls him Hottie McYummy) and other players she considers cute to market to women to be a bit lame.
Contestant 2: Neal L
Neal is still one of my favorites. His topic selection was a bit weak too, and his fake report from “Don Miguel” using a bad accent got old fast, but he has a great radio voice and is well spoken, I still think he can do this job, and he get’s my vote.
To view round one results, click the link below to open this post fully.
Friday, July 01, 2005
Contestant 1: John B
John is in sales, so he is a talker. I didn’t find his first topic interesting, I think it was to narrowly focused, he asked others in sales, “what was the hardest or strangest thing you have sold?” He did get calls from others in his business, but I found it boreing. As time went on, he did an okay job.
Contestant 2: Michelle H
I’ll try to not allow the fact that Michelle is one of McCann’s minions (She is an assistant District Attorney) color my view Actually, she did a nice job. I didn’t get to hear the whole thing, but what I did hear was entertaining. I do question if she is taking this job seriously though, early in the morning, Jerry Bott asks questions of the contestants, like “are you willing to give up your current job for this?” Michelle didn’t seem to know how to answer that, I don’t think she sees this as a real opportunity, but she get’s my vote anyway.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Contestant 1: Chris T
Chris did a great job, he has an easy to listen to voice, is well spoken and will do well.
Contestant 2: Aaron K
Poor Aaron, he was very nervous, he blew through three topics in as many minutes. He started with a topic on dogs, I would say it was less than a minute later when he said, “Well, no calls on this topic, let’s move on.” He blew through all three topics just as fast, he didn’t give people a chance to respond. What talk radio needs is a little patients, people want to hear what you have to say on an issue, they they will respond, you didn’t give them a chance. Within about five or six minutes, he said on the air that he was floundering.
Aaron started at 7:35ish, at 7:48 he said he wasn’t feeling good about this because he only has three calls and none were about his first topic, but he clearly moved on from that topic…Not a good audition.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Short reviews today, I didn’t pay close attention today, so you just get a quickie, just my basic feel for the show.That’s what you get on my day off
Contestant 1: William S.
Bill seemed very nervous, he got better as the show went on.
Contestant 2: Pat C.
Pat was very smooth, he did a nice job and get’s my vote.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Contestant 1: Brian F.
Brian did a nice job, well spoken, politically savvy (does consulting for Scott Walker). I can see him doing this job, one of the few that I felt were comfortable on the air, he get’s my vote, and not because he’s Owen’s buddy.
Contestant 2: Nicole D
Nicole did a good job…until she got on the soap box about agreeing with Peg (the Lush) Lautenschlager and her stance about the University of Wisconsin providing discount morning-after abortion pills to students.
Monday, June 27, 2005
I caught a little of the time that both contestants are on together with Jerry Bott and thought that this was going to be a good show, both guys seemed well spoken and my expectations were high…But…
Contestant 1: James T
Within the first 5 minutes, I knew this was going to be a train wreck…Within 10 minutes I was yelling at the radio, “Jerry Bottt, I know you are here! Get in there and save WISN” The first hour was painful, he spewed all of his comments in the first few minutes, then he started doing really bad jokes, he use to be a stand-up comic. I expected more from Jim, he is a trial attorney and classroom instructor, but seemed to have no ability to speak alone on the radio. He also came across as a flaming liberal too, I guess it’s the law degree from Berkeley.
It was a painful first hour and I expect the biggest loser on the day is the poor guy that came second. I doubt that there were many masochists that listened to the whole first hour, but I did it, so you guys owe me BIG TIME!
Contestant 2: Mike C
Mike did a nice job. H is well spoken and has the ability to speak on his own. Mike is one of my favorites so far. One tip I have for him, when a call comes in, you don’t have to stop in mid-sentence, finish your thought, then move t the caller, they will wait or you. Mike get’s my vote.
Friday, June 24, 2005
Contestant 1: Dan M.
To be honest, I didn’t hear much of Dan, the reason is a return of the problems with my truck, but I did catch the end. He seems to be okay, but I heard nothing exciting. He is a Libertarian and I often get frustrated by their arguments, more so than flaming liberals
Contestant 2: Roi E.
I liked Roi, he lightened things up and had fun, that is needed in a morning show. I enjoyed his description of the time he went to Poland, it seems that a 6′ 4” black man is something of an oddity in Eastern Europe. My vote goes to Roi
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Contestant 1: Ron C
Ron talked about a very important topic, the bidding by the Communist Chinese on the huge energy corporation Unocal. This is going to be a hot topic, but the way he handled it was like listening to public radio, he took calls, let the people have their say and moved on. He needs to engage people in conversation for this to work for him. Great topic, just mishandled (I will discuss this topic tonight) My first thought was, “this guy is made for NPR”.
Contestant 2 Andy B
I was bored to tears In Andy’s defense, he is doing this at short notice, someone canceled and Andy came in early. He talked about people that drive slow on the highway and rude cell phone use, tired out topics in my opinion.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Contestant 1: Douglas P
I admit that I didn’t hear much of Douglas’ show, but I was unimpressed by what I did hear.
Contestant 2: Allen E
Allen was also unimpressive, he is also quite liberal, probably not a good fit with most of the WISN audience. He is against moving the casino downtown and is against allowing military recruiters into the schools. He actually said that recruiters use heavy handed tactics like threatening to have students arrested…C’mon!
Today, I would vote for None Of The Above if it were an option.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Contestant 1: Neal L
Neal is very good, he has done voice over work for radio commercials, he has a great voice, is well spoken, informed and very professional. Neal is my early favorite!
Contestant 2: Michael W
Michael needs to focus, his first topic got no response, I agreed with his points, but there was no single topic that I could discern. He then moved on to talk about the probability that the 440th will be moved out of Milwaukee, but he himself was undecided. Something that, I believe it was Mark Belling has talked about is how a talkshow host needs to have a firm opinion and ask a direct focused question, Michael lacked that.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Contestant 1: Joe K. Winner
Joe has a good voice for radio, he does well when talking to another person, but when he is talking on his own, there are a lot of “ah’s” and “um’s” but I think a large part of this is the nervousness.
Contestant 2 Marie K.
I don’t mean to sound mean, but Marie’s voice does not work well on the radio, at least not for me. She talks fast and doesn’t finish a thought before moving to the next, again, nerves play a part in this I’m sure. Also, she needs to relax when a call comes in, she needs to finish a sentence before jumping to the caller, the people on the phone can wait 20 seconds until you finish your comment. One more thing, the “fear of port-a-potty” topic may not have been the best choice
Posted in Home | Comments (79)
June 20th, 2005 at 2:42 pm
I didn’t get to hear Joe, I wish they would put an example on the website for those of us who can’t listen to the radio before 8am.
June 20th, 2005 at 8:01 pm
Yeah, I was surprised they didn’t have at least a little clip so you could hear their voices. It would have made a great addition.
June 20th, 2005 at 8:11 pm
A word about their website, hate it! I don’t do much in the way of web design anymore, but their website was made by a pro and it is not attractive or user friendly in my opinion. I wouldn’t charge for that site.
June 21st, 2005 at 12:13 pm
It doesn’t render correctly in Firefox either, I had to use IE to see it correctly. Just checked and seems they fixed a few CSS errors they had.
Oh well I won’t vote until they put the clips up. I don’t get out of bed until 7:30 and I have a newborn in the house so I can’t turn the radio on until 8pm
June 21st, 2005 at 1:01 pm
Brilliant minds blog alike… I’ve been commenting on the talent, also, and so far, we are in good agreement!
June 24th, 2005 at 11:34 am
I was looking at the website with the big red Xs through each of the contestants that were eliminated. Wasn’t there an anti-abortion site that called for the assasination of abortion doctors that had the same thing?
June 27th, 2005 at 8:01 pm
Second Monday….I heartily agree with your view on James T… I need to get meaner with my critiques… I feel a bond with Mike C, we both lived in the UP, and the slight Uper accent he has made me homesick… He got my vote today.
June 27th, 2005 at 8:20 pm
He’s a Yooper? Where do I go to change my vote?
hehehe, couldn’t resist.
July 1st, 2005 at 8:08 pm
You misspelled patience.
Don’t feel sorry. Chris was a challenging person to be up against, with personality and experience.
I opted to derail the show, in order to make it more “me.” The airliner story was directed at a very small portion of my audience, and was intended to enlighten the rest of you.
I hope you enjoyed the last 5 minutes, because I really did!
July 2nd, 2005 at 5:59 am
Hi Aaron, I didn’t intend to be hard on anyone, you all have more guts that I ever have just for trying it. All I’m doing is what I do best, spew my opinion
July 2nd, 2005 at 10:30 am
Ditto, Patrick.
This was all about challenging myself. And hey, it looks good on a resume, right?
July 13th, 2005 at 12:00 am
Patrick, I’ve been waiting all day for you to weigh in on today’s contestants, and your thoughts on yesterday’s decision. I know, I have no life….
One of my two or three readers has started a mini-brew-ha-ha, and I’m in pretty good agreement with what she has to say.
July 13th, 2005 at 7:45 am
You have great comments Larry
Anyone that cares enough about this contest should also be reading Larry’s blog.
July 15th, 2005 at 12:43 am
Wow, I must say I never thought I’d be referred to as a Nazi, (smoking or otherwise).
If my passion for the topic came off as a rant so be it. But I ask you, seriously, if smoking regulations (which could include a ban) infringe upon the rights of business owners, shouldn’t we then allow restaurants and bars to stop serving Black people, or Asian people, or White people for that matter. Since insisting they serve all races creeds and colors might go against the owner’s wishes. Truly… is that not just a different slippery slope?
I must say I have enjoyed and will continue to visit your Blog.
As for losing your vote, I am sorry for that.I think a little difference of opinion can be a lot of fun and in the end good radio. Sometimes on these shows it just sounds like guys with strong opinions glossing each other and basking in the glow of each others sameness. Tedious.
Peace.
CT
July 15th, 2005 at 5:51 am
Hi Chris, the difference is, smoking is a LEGAL activity. Banning people by race, sex or anything like that is not legal (not to mention stupid).
I have no problem at all if a business owner wants to be smoke free, actually I would be more likely to go there myself since I don’t smoke, but I wouldn’t be expect to be able to walk into a bar and demand that everyone stop doing something that is legal (and even government subsidized…but that’s another topic) just because “I” don’t want to smell smoke, it’s NOT MY BAR.
I do give you and all of the contestants credit, you guys are all putting your selves “out there” and I do respect that.
July 15th, 2005 at 9:35 am
Patrick,
Many things are legal, yet not allowed in a public place such as a restaurant, or are controlled activities due their inherent dangers to others. Perhaps this is not the battle ground this should be fought on, and the real actions that needs to be taken is to acknowledging cigarette smoke as the health hazard that it is, and set controls on it that would then include restaurants, bars and… bowling alleys. It’s not the” smell” that is offensive, its the carcinogen in the air that needs to be done away with.
Thanks for writing back.
You should think about voting for me anyway.
Peace.
CT
July 15th, 2005 at 12:19 pm
Chris,
It would seem that your topic stirred up some controversy. I’d say that makes it pretty successful. I would have loved to spend more time debating you on or off the air.
P.S. I voted for you in spite of disagreeing with you! Break a leg!
AK
July 16th, 2005 at 7:59 am
[...] to readers: There are some interesting exchanges on the comments section of this post, including comments from a few of thecontestants. [...]
July 16th, 2005 at 8:14 am
Chris, I will never agree with your stance on the smoking ban, but to be honest, I do like your style on the air. For me personally, I feel it is wrong to destroy the private property rights of an individual. The restaurant you go into is not yours, you don’t have a right to make the rules. If they serve straight french fries but you want curly fries, they don’t have to change for you, if it bothers you enough, you will go down the street to the place that gives you what you want. If enough people join you, the business will suffer and the owner may change to curly fries or suffer a loss of business, but the owner (and his customers) is the one to make that decision… It’s the American way.
You get another shot on the radio, so you start with a clean slate with me, I do wish you, Nicole, Michelle & Andrew all the best. I do hope the best person wins, because this is going to effect me for the next few years.
July 16th, 2005 at 12:46 pm
“to readers: There are some interesting exchanges on the comments section of this post, including comments from a few of thecontestants.”
Chris steered me toward the blog sites when we were discussing topics. I thought it would be fun to see how badly my show got reemed.
I’m finding that most people tuned out the first time I said “West Allis.” That’s really a shame, because the calls were great!
Patrick, you ought to give Chris your email address. He wanted to do a topic on blogging in the first round. Now that there’s more to talk about, I think it would be interesting for him to interview you on/off air.
AK
July 16th, 2005 at 1:09 pm
My email is right at the top of the sidebar, but when the show is on I’m working hard (some would say hardly working)
I had the chance to be on with Charlie Sykes along with a few other local bloggers and it was a blast though. Here is the post with audio of the show.
July 16th, 2005 at 5:16 pm
You know, Aaron has an idea here that could set you apart from the others. If you could line up an interview with someone that would impress the listeners, it could work. Do you have any skill at doing an interview? Even better, do you know anyone famous that you could work with ahead of time on this?
July 17th, 2005 at 12:50 am
I joked about interviewing Chris, because I wanted to plug Shear Madness. By the way, I think you may still be able to see it one last time this Sunday (7/17).
Since I’m on a roll: one of the other contestants (Neal) will be playing Harley Fest on the 31st. I plan to be there. Check out his Bio online for a link to his band.
I think it’s interesting that 199 people were interviewed and most of the chosen 20 (21, counting John) actually do have (successful) lives outside of this contest.
I think the hardest thing for “The Talkstar” to deal with is when he/she leaves behind their normal lifestyle. They might run out of material if they’re not doing their 9-5 anymore!
AK
July 17th, 2005 at 2:50 am
Patrick’ I think in some ways your argument against my opinion has helped me form a clearer opinion. You dislike my discrimination analogy because it is illegal to do so (in business)…I think that is what needs to happen with the smoking in an enclosed public establishment…it needs to become illegal. As with racism (perhaps an inflammatory example) it is not illegal to be a racist…no one can litigate that which lives in your heart, but it is illegal to practice racism in business.
Smoking is not illegal…but it needs to be stopped where it can harm others. Curly fries aren’t going to harm a non curly fry lover.
Thanks for keeping this cooking…maybe its time to put it down for a while
As for the interview…I don’t know if they are going to make new requirements in the next round (interview, news reads etc.), we’ll see.
Aaron. Thanks for the “Madness” plug. We close tomorrow and it has been a good run.
Peace.
CT
July 17th, 2005 at 10:15 am
“Curly fries aren’t going to harm a non curly fry lover.”
Chris,
I live in fear of the day that someone discovers/invents “second-hand fat.” There are plenty of other carcinogens out there that we can ban, too. I’m glad that you at least qualified your position with an indoor-only ban.
Bottom line: smokers are great! We can rape and pillage them finacially, then beat them up verbally and shun their dirty habit. They’ll just roll over and take it because A) they know they’re doing something bad, and B) they haven’t got the energy to fight back. Perhaps smokers are the new slave class.
I am now a recovering smoker, and I promise I will never ask a current smoker to light up in my presence. I will, however, ask him not to toss the lit butt into a full gas can next to a dry hay-stack.
AK
July 17th, 2005 at 11:24 am
Perhaps non-smokers should take a little responsibility to leave the establishment if you don’t want to be around smoke.
Again, it’s not your bar/restaurant, you don’t have the right to set the rules, if the bar owner and most of the customers want and expect there to be smoking allowed, you shouldn’t be able to trample on their rights.
July 19th, 2005 at 10:05 pm
I liked Alan E, but uh for uh he and ummm all the uhh other ahhh contestants. ummmm I would uhhh really work uhhh ummm towards ummm not…..
July 20th, 2005 at 11:20 am
It is unbelievable for me to hear Patrick’s civil liberties rant against Chris when he ranted against ME for being a libertarian. Libertarians are absolutely against the kind of nanny society that Chris is putting forth. The problem with most Republicans they are Libertarians when it suits them but civil rights disappear when it is for something they oppose. Patrick said in your first week attack of me that Libertarians logic drives him nuts. But to me it is a consistent solid philosophy. No reason for seat belt laws, or motorcycle helmets, or anti-smoking, no reason that taxes should be involved in social engineering…deductions for homes over apartments, children over childless. We believe that you should mind your own business…up until it interferes with someone else’s health or pocketbook. Chris can make a cogent argument against smoking in bars…though the science on second hand smoke is week. One can make a cogent Libertarian argument for or against abortion (mind your own business versus the civil rights of a fetus). Free markets, civil liberties and small government. Yes I said I was a Libertarian and then a Republican Libertarian…this is not inconsistent. Sadly America only has a two party system and we must put our tent in one camp or the other. Democrats are against everything we believe in, as it seems is the Bush administration. Still there is a vocal Libertarian movement that TRYS to keep you big spend big debt Republicans from continuing to support ridiculous things like Amtrack.
Finally…anti-religious???? Since when is the truth anti-religious? Show me the religion from in the Constitution…the set of rules for our Government…and I’ll let you put up the ten commandments in the courthouse…but until then…stop taking my money to pay for your definition of god.
dan’s world
July 20th, 2005 at 5:52 pm
[quote]…up until it interferes with someone else’s health or pocketbook…[/quote]
Aaron’s rule of thumb: your rights end where mine begin.
Of course, there is still gray area. What rights do you and I TRULY have?
Good to see you, Dan!
AK
July 27th, 2005 at 3:57 pm
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
(Wrong place for that, don’t do it again –Patrick)
July 28th, 2005 at 7:37 pm
Chris is doing an excellent job! He’s got a good radio voice, and I appreciate (most of) his opinions. He’s getting really good at pulling callers out of the woodwork (DIAL THE PHONE, PEOPLE) , too. I loved the “Hot Flash” segment.
Chris had the unfortunate honor of being my “mark” during the gang of 20 meeting. I have this tendancy to single someone out in large groups. I’ll draw attention from/to myself by drawing attention to them. Of course, this usually triggers my foot-in-mouth reflex. This time was no different, as we were matched up in the FIRST round!
I have to go see a man about a fish.
AK
July 29th, 2005 at 7:52 am
Alright, Andy solidified himself in my final three (Chris, Michelle, Andy). The actual result will probably be Chris, Michelle, Nicole.
Andy’s voice rubs me wrong, but the guy picks great topics. So many times, I’ve been listening and thinking “I was just wondering about that.” He’s also got a good sense of humor.
It was the ferrule cat joke that made up my mind about Andy. When I was trying out and discussing topics with other auditioners, one guy (Tim) said he wanted to do a bit on ferrule cats. I told him it would be a good topic, but ONLY if he could make it entertaining. I think Andy figured out how to do it!
Good job, Andy! Sorry to beat you to the punch, Patrick.
July 29th, 2005 at 7:43 pm
Jerry,
Used to listen to Weber and Dolan religiously every morning on my way to work. They’re still good, but out of my listening ability at work. Not impressed really with any of the potential replacements. However, I think you’d have a hit with (I’m not sure of this guy’s name) Dan Diver and Jamie Larson. They’ve got good chemistry. Think about it!! They’re pleasant and funny. They spar well together and the subject material is great. Thanks. Pete
ps Several other of my colleagues like them as well!!
July 29th, 2005 at 8:50 pm
The problem is Divert doesn’t want the show (those hours do suck).
I think Jamie Larson has a bit of a fan club starting
July 29th, 2005 at 8:51 pm
Aaron scooped me on my own blog?
July 29th, 2005 at 9:59 pm
Sorry, Patrick! I couldn’t resist.
Thanks for providing me a place to get this out of my system.
I’ve provided the link to my regular hangout. You’ll see that I’m pretty active there, too.
AK
August 1st, 2005 at 8:49 pm
When did they announce the result?
I never heard it!
AK
August 1st, 2005 at 8:52 pm
I didn’t hear it until Belling’s show. It is also on the website.
Belling was talking about it, but he hasn’t heard any of the shows and didn’t know what he was talking about, calling all three liberals (I only think of one as a liberal).
August 1st, 2005 at 10:07 pm
I don’t think any of them are as conservative as Belling.
I’m not. I’m like a jelly donut: tough conservative shell, with a small, gooey liberal center that gets all over you if you forget to hold your hand out.
Fortunately, I got into engineering. Numbers don’t lie unless you tell them to.
AK
August 3rd, 2005 at 7:26 am
Patrick,
I agree almost verbatim with your assessment of Michelle’s show. I tuned out during the bachelor party segment. Not because I wanted to, but because my radio sounds AWFUL in the basement where I work. I couldn’t stand listening to the hissing any longer for that topic. My personal experience with bachelor parties probably trumps anything that was said. I know I should’ve called in with some stories, but they’re way too personal.
I had a thought on what might be going on with the voting, too. Do you think more women are listening because of the nature of this contest? It seems to be the kind of format that appeals to the female demographic. I would also expect women to be more proactive in voting, too. If this is the case, it’s not a surprise that two of the three female contestants are in the final round.
AK
August 3rd, 2005 at 8:03 am
You may be right about the demographic skewing female in this time slot, interesting thought.
What I personally fear is that the vote will fall along ideological lines. It is quite clear that Nicole is clearly the most liberal of the group, and with the talk of an organized effort to stack the deck for a liberal host, I am afraid that the more conservative vote will be split between Michelle and Chris, allowing someone who, in my opinion, has been the less talented of the group slip into the top spot.
August 4th, 2005 at 2:12 pm
What’s this talk of an organized effort to get a Liberal host in the morning on WISN? Who is coordinating this? God I hope this isn’t true.
August 4th, 2005 at 6:40 pm
I suggested on Larry’s blog that the liberal war rooms have been trying to figure out how to work this contest since it was announced. I’d love to hear that it isn’t true, but what are the odds in this town? Madtown is just a few short miles away, too.
AK
August 4th, 2005 at 6:56 pm
Dave, it has been mentioned in several places, including by Mark Belling, that there has been a concerted effort to push through a liberal on WISN. It would certainly explain a few of the “winners” throughout the competition.
What I fear will happen is the conservative vote will be split, leaving the most liberal of the bunch. WISN’s demographic skews heavily conservative, but it may not be enough this time.
August 5th, 2005 at 7:09 pm
I noticed something else during this contest: cell phones are a hot topic!
It seems like the callers lined up to discuss cell phone related issues. Now I wish I’d done my cell phone story! Maybe WISN should bag the Talkstar thing and do a morning cell phone tech support show.
AK
August 10th, 2005 at 8:11 pm
The end is NEARER!!!
August 10th, 2005 at 8:29 pm
Personally I think this week delay was a blunder, the unexpected delay lets this whole contest fade from memory, they should have capitalized on this while it was still fresh for those of us that were interested. Now we have to wait until Friday NIGHT? How many of the people that listened every morning and voted daily will be able to listen in on Friday night?
There will be a lot of people that won’t know who the winner is until next Monday morning…Ho hum, who will care by then?
August 11th, 2005 at 12:53 pm
[...] One of the Milwaukee Talk Star contestants, Pat C. will be on the air with Dan Deibert tomorrow (Friday) morning, sitting in for Jerry Bott. Pat was knocked off by Nicole during the contest, but I find it entertaining that he will be working in radio before the contest winner is even named [...]
August 12th, 2005 at 6:53 pm
7:30, the winner will be announced at State Fair.
August 12th, 2005 at 7:24 pm
Thanks Larry, I have my audio recorder running already.
August 12th, 2005 at 8:44 pm
Well, based on what we’ve seen, I guess this is not a surprise. I’m very disappointed that this contest turned into a political event.
August 12th, 2005 at 8:55 pm
Larry, that was a very good catch you made, I wish I would have looked into this angle myself.
It is really unfair that one of the largest liberal Blogs in the nation (Daily Kos) was able, in my opinion, to change the vote. If you look at WISN’s demographic, it is quite a bit farther right than Nicole will ever be.
As I said a week or two ago, my fear was the Conservative vote would be split between Chris & Michelle, leaving the door open for the more liberal contestant.
I hope we see Chris get another chance at WISN, Jerry Bott made mention of it and I believe Chris was the only one of the group that was polished enough to do the job well…This is our loss as well as a loss for WISN.
As I said right after the winner was named, the real winner will be WTMJ Radio.
August 12th, 2005 at 9:02 pm
OMG! You mean Kos actually won something?
They must be selling parkas in hell right about now.
August 12th, 2005 at 9:05 pm
As usual, not honestly
August 12th, 2005 at 9:08 pm
Anyway, I can’t wait until the arbitrons come out showing Charlie Sykes mopping the floor with lefty Nicole.
Ya gotta feel good for the lefties though. Outside of CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, hollywood film studios, the USA Today, Maureen Dowd, Paul Krugman, Jon Stewart, et al, the left has absolutely no way of getting its message out.
August 12th, 2005 at 9:18 pm
Actually, the show ends before Sykes, they will be going against Ken Herrera and their early morning team… Gawd, I miss Webber & Dolan doing the early mornings
August 12th, 2005 at 11:07 pm
My girlfirend and I sat right in the middle of the Nicole fan club. (One of Nicole’s friends complimented me on my shirt, but Nicole looked right through me every time she spotted me). Kelly’s comment to me was, “well I guess we know who’s winning.”
My girlfriend is fairly liberal. She believes that if life can’t be fair, we should make it fair. She seemed more upset about the outcome than me, and she hasn’t given ONE SECOND of thought to this contest. She might have noticed that I was on the radio one day, though…
I’m not going to pass judgement on Nicole, unless I find out she had something to do with the liberal blogging. She’s been through a lot, and the next few months are probably going to be agonizing for her. If she was part of some talk radio coup, then let her have it (it’s a call-in show). She asked for it. But, until we know for sure I will respectfully listen (or not) as I see fit. She still needs an audience, afterall.
AK
August 12th, 2005 at 11:38 pm
Oops, good catch Patrick.
I still think she will be a ratings disaster. I bet 99.9% of the people who voted for her after reading the posting on Kos are not from this area and would never listen to WISN.
I give her a year, tops. The lefties campaigned hard to put her on the air; they better listen now.
August 13th, 2005 at 12:03 am
I went down to State Fair Park tonight, and was disgusted at the outcome (though we all knew it was coming).
It was interesting, though, hanging around Nicole’s weird looking entourage…a lot of east-side liberal types mixed in with guys covered in tatoos. I tried to hang around them and act like I was rooting for Nicole. After Michelle was eliminated, someone called Kos to give him the “good” news.
This was a nice idea that turned into an outright disaster. I would have been happy with Michelle or Chris, but Nicole has been one of the worst hosts from the get-go (even aside from her far left politics), and didn’t even deserve to advance past the first round, imo.
I hope WISN gets an earful from it’s listeners, since they’ll be the one’s to suffer.
August 13th, 2005 at 10:15 am
“After Michelle was eliminated, someone called Kos to give him the ‘good’ news.”
Really? I wish I’d seen that. After the announcement, my attention shifted to meeting up with Chris and Michelle.
By the way, Greg, what did you think of Nicole’s shirt? My girlfriend was really turned off by it. I was trying to figure out if it was homemade. Either way, I thought it was a little out of place (which is why I didn’t wear any of my WISN/Talkstar gear). I understand the excitement, but she was conveying a message that maybe she didn’t intend.
AK
August 13th, 2005 at 10:19 am
What was on her shirt?
Did anyone get pictures of the event?
August 13th, 2005 at 10:35 am
I was there last night (sorry no pictures) to watch this thing wrap up. I agree with pretty much everything said. Looking at Nicole’s “peeps” then looking at the rest of the WISN crowd that showed up, one can tell that it’s not a good “mix”.
I’m not going to say that I’m not going to listen because I don’t think she’ll be on there alone. Someone will be with her and hopefully have the ability and experience to put her in her place when required.
It’s been said before that she won’t be there alone and I agree. Someone also said (I think it was Patrick but maybe not) that they think the “talk star” will not be the lead but will be relegated to 3rd or 4th chair. After what was witnessed last night, I fully agree.
Good luck WISN.
August 13th, 2005 at 10:36 am
“What was on her shirt?”
It said “TALK” with a cute little star drawn under that.
By the way, Kos pulled that inflamatory “scr… you!” off the blog (or someone else edited it). Perhaps he thought it reflected poorly upon him/her? It certainly was insightful.
AK
August 13th, 2005 at 10:44 am
Her shirt was a black and white shirt with the word “Talk” in big black letters and a star beneath it.
One other thing. I met with Dan Deibert for a quick conversation. He had quite the fan base there. When he was introduced he got a huge reaction from the crowd and when I went to talk to him, I had to wait in line behind 5 or 6 peole that wanted to say Hi to him. I can’t believe that after seeing all of that, Jerry Bott and the rest of the WISN staff didn’t push harder to keep him there. But….
…He even mentioned on the air that he wondered if he could do Nicole’s old job since he was going to need a new one in a couple of weeks. So, I think that’s the nail in the coffin on wether he will be the “lead host” on the new show.
August 13th, 2005 at 11:19 am
By the way, Greg, what did you think of Nicole’s shirt? My girlfriend was really turned off by it. ”
It was in very poor taste, imo. I thought Michelle came off the best in person…she wasn’t the least bit crowd shy and presented herself well. But Nicole was very confident in victory from what I’d heard, and she’s had a cocky attitude from the beginning. In fact, she has been pretty much dismissive of the other contestants.
BTW, her friends were making numerous long-distance calls afterward thanking people for their help. This was a “national” effort, to be sure.
It will be interesting if Nicole’s liberal political views (which are VERY far left) become the focus of her show. Her friends certainly were hoping so (a lot of not-so-classy language referring to Belling and WISN’s listeners), and I’m sure Kos will bank on it.
This mess is just beginning…
August 13th, 2005 at 11:30 am
On a more optimistic note: at least liberals don’t own guns.
That might actually make them dangerous.
August 13th, 2005 at 12:02 pm
To Nicole – congratulations – enjoy the 10o grant – the real upside for you is you won’t have to work the full 2 years to get it.
To Dan Deibert – don’t book too many late night gigs. You’ll be back at 6 AM sooner than you think.
To Jerry Bott – I hear there’s a college radio station in Western Nebraska looking for a backup producer for late nights and weekends – got your resume ready?
August 13th, 2005 at 12:12 pm
Don’t count Jerry out yet.
Given the choice between a liberal show and Glenn Beck, I think I would choose whale sounds. So, to get back to “square one” all Jerry has to do is put Nicole in Glenn’s spot and move the boys back to mornings.
But, I’ve heard rumblings that there is nothing to be gained in the morning. So, they may as well leave this as it stands.
I, unlike others, also agree with the decision to move Homer. 6pm was my tune-out time because I could never get into 2 1/2 hours of sports, especially during the off season. There’s so much on the internet for sports junkies now, how do you justify a full show? Sorry, Homer.
AK
August 14th, 2005 at 9:48 am
Aaron – you can’t be serious – morning drive is the backbone of radio. You have your most captive audience of the day (who channel surfs from bed?).
Who’s giving you this “there’s nothing to be gained in the morning” pap? Sounds like Bott trying to candy-coat this train wreck.
Nicole has two things going against her big time: 1 – her views are way to the left of the WISN domographic; 2 – she fundamentally lacks talent.
Many ISN listeners will scatter – some to TMJ (although I’d rather eat dry toast with sawdust), some to WLS or BBM out of Chicago, while others will find a suitable wake-up on the FM dial.
In the meantime, there will be no replacement audience to compensate on 1130 – The ilk that Nicole appeals to are either (A) – listening to headbanger FM, (B) getting their superiority fix on NPR, or (C) not awake!
The big losers in this charade are Webber and Dolan. Middays require a strong lead to get them jump started. With listenweship off at 8:30 – the audience will be thinner at 9:AM too. Conversely, I see a winner out of this mess being TMJ, and notably Sykes (could that be the ulterior reason he plugs this blog…????HMMM…..conspiracy theories abound….)
August 14th, 2005 at 10:29 pm
“Who’s giving you this ‘there’s nothing to be gained in the morning’ pap?”
I got it from talk amongst some of the contestants and various people (outside of WISN) monitoring the contest. I think you might find it on the Brew City message board, too.
The theory is that TMJ already owns the morning drive.
AK
August 15th, 2005 at 8:38 am
I’m sure you’re right about TMJ. I just find it very hard to believe that an organization like Clear Channel would simply cede morning drive ratings anywhere, particularly in a good sized market like this where the AM options are already limited. If that’s the prevailing logic, then we’d be just as well off with Imus.
August 15th, 2005 at 11:12 am
—–
I got it from talk amongst some of the contestants and various people (outside of WISN) monitoring the contest. I think you might find it on the Brew City message board, too.
—–
Well, I’d consider the sources there. None of the contestants have radio experience and I wouldn’t take to heart what i read on a website message board.
Anyone that would think or even imply that “there is nothing to gain with a morning show” is 100% wrong. There is not a station in the country that will “throw away” it’s morning show. Not in Market 30, 130, or 300 for that matter. NONE. The “rumblings” you’ve heard are dead wrong.
August 15th, 2005 at 7:02 pm
“The ‘rumblings’ you’ve heard are dead wrong.”
Yeah, I’m talking out of my backside on that one. But, if the numbers are awful, it would explain why they took a chance.
I also said this before:
More likely, Glenn Beck was a dud. I know he wasn’t popular with me or anyone else I knew. So, someone decided to boost HIS slot with a known success. Then, fill a tough spot with something new. If the new program fails, put the boys back in the slot (they seem to want that 3:00am drive anyway), and fill Beck’s spot with pig calls or something.
Glenn Beck was just plain unlistenable. He did topics in midday that you really wouldn’t want to hear (or be seen listening to) at work.
I still don’t think WISN looses with this experiment.
AK
August 15th, 2005 at 7:26 pm
I don’t think the W&D morning drive ratings were too bad. I think they had a respectable following. Aaron – you’re too optimistic (are you on the ISN payroll?). I think WISN loses big time. In the business world (and CC is a business), jobs are lost over blunders of this magnitude. If this ends up with W&D back on in the early AM, we’ll all be winners. That is probably the absolute best solution at this point – so I hope you’re right on that call!
Belling dedicated his 5:00 hour today to rip this process. He is obviously not beholden to this management fiasco and has no qualms about speaking out on a bad management call.
August 15th, 2005 at 8:35 pm
“are you on the ISN payroll?”
We could only hope.
No, I think I ruffled too many feathers by chatting with you guys. Not to mention, my show was a dud.
What did Belling say? I didn’t think to tune in until almost 6 o’clock (got to hear Hannity’s new time slot).
AK
August 15th, 2005 at 9:41 pm
I posted Sykes & Bellings comments in the comments section of this post.
August 15th, 2005 at 10:33 pm
Wow, I will have to thank Sykes for linking me today….I’ve had more visitors in one day than I do in months….
He pretty much summed up all my comments from the last month or so…. The voting process they designed was totally flawed. If they had signed up a voter pool before they started the contest (asking for an anonymous pool without telling them why), they might have avoided this whole mess.
Water under the bridge, at this point. I hope Jerry enjoys his vacation this week, I think he’s going to be walking hot coals next week…
August 23rd, 2005 at 10:48 pm
[...] Did I have an opinion on the ballot stuffing by members of The Daily Kos? Sure I did, I invested a lot of time on that competition. I wonder if Cuprisin even bothered to listen in. But I listened every day of the competition and posted updates and my opinions every single day. Not only did I update the post after each contestant, we also had a lively discussion in the Comments section of the blog with well over 100 comments being logged (in all of the Talkstar posts), many by contestants themselves. I also discussed the rumors of ballot stuffing back in early July, I expressed concern that the winner would not be picked by the people that actually listened to the show. [...]
September 6th, 2005 at 8:52 pm
[...] During the Milwaukee Talkstar competition, a guy that was voted out in the second round, Pat C, has since become a semi-regular, already logging much more air time than the finalists and the winner of the contest combined. I laugh every time I think about that. [...]