admin's blog
Current Article on Talent Quest Winners
CPB has announced that they will fund two of our talent quest winners.
Current, the newspaper about public broadcasting, has a new article about the announcement. Here is a highlight:
“We’re not saying to any one of the three, ‘Here’s a bunch of money — go launch a program in the next six months,’” said Kathy Merritt, CPB’s director of program investments in radio. “We’re going to give all the people involved time to look at the concepts and make sure they’re matched to their personalities and what they want to do, then figure out how they will produce the programs."
delicious
diggBig News from PRX and CPB
Thought we'd forgotten about you, PRTQ fans? We were just getting ready for this big announcement...
CPB has decided to fund two of our winners! Al Letson and Glynn Washington will each get a year's worth of funding to produce new episodes of their shows.
Check out the official press release and follow these links to hear the pilots that got Al and Glynn their CPB honors. And, be sure to watch Al and Glynn give previews of what's to come in this video.
The Final Round: Pilots Are Here!
Are we there yet? Are we there yet?
Yes.
After (what we hear were) many weeks of grueling effort by both the finalists and their mentors, scheduling interviews and editing, throwing monkey poop and editing . . . this is it. The final round of the Public Radio Talent Quest. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet your official hosts:
PRX Announces Winners of Public Radio Talent Quest
1,400+ Entered - 3 Emerge Hosty
After four rounds and 1,400+ entries from all 50 states, Al Letson of Jacksonville FL, Glynn Washington of Oakland CA, and Rebecca Watson of Boston MA are the winners of the Public Radio Talent Quest. The three winners receive $10,000, and will go on to create pilots for potential unexpected talent.
About the Winners:
The winners, interviewed on stage.
Multifaceted artist Al Letson has become nationally recognized for his soul-stirring work. In the late nineties Letson established himself as a heavyweight contender in the Poetry Slam Movement by winning several major competitions, and ranking 3rd at the National Poetry Slam. His words and performances have been seen and heard on HBO's Def Poetry Jam, CBS's Final Four PreGame Show (2004) and for commercial clients such as Sony and Adobe Software. Letson's winning entry can be heard here.
Announcement: The Round Four Semifinalists!
From 1452 to 10, from 10 to 7, and now from 7 to 5. Both the public and the judges' votes made this a really close call.
The five new semifinalists, proceeding to Round Four, are (in alphabetical order):
An Open Call For Fresh Fundraising Ideas
There's a lot to like about most programming on public radio. Essential as it is, fundraising is usually not on that list.
Maybe you can help us change that. We bet you have some new ideas about public radio pledge drives (other than just getting rid of them altogether, which is not one of the options!).
THE CHALLENGE
Take a crack at re-imagining the style and sound of the public radio fundraising pitch. You've heard stuff like this a million times:
"Because This [Excellent Radio Show] is an hour-long program, they are able to provide in-depth conversations and interviews with great thinkers of our times. Please support this [Excellent Radio Show] and WXYZ now with your financial support. Call [number] or join online at [Web site]. Thank you."
TALENT QUEST ROUND 3: The Art of the Interview
Conducting a great interview is an essential element of hostiness and a hallmark of public radio's best on-air talent. In this challenge we are leaving it up to the semi-finalists to select an interview subject and guest, a choice which we trust will be as revealing as the substance and quality of the interview itself.
To add a dimension to this round we've also invited the participating stations to have a local host to turn the tables and interview the semi-finalist. The results of both interviews will be the Round 3 entry posted on the Talent Quest site the second week of August.
Announcement: The Round Three Semifinalists!
From 1452 to 10, and from 10 to 7. You guys have never made this process easy.
The seven new semifinalists, proceeding to Round Three, are (in alphabetical order):
Recent comments
1 week 4 days ago
7 weeks 7 hours ago
12 weeks 2 days ago
13 weeks 4 days ago
13 weeks 5 days ago