Round 2 entry for Glynn Washington

I can't wait to hear this guy on the radio.
I hope he makes it to the next round.
Great personality and potential! He sounds like he has quite a collection of family stories to draw from and I want to hear more from him.
I liked his verve!
Cheer Glynn!

I love listening to this guy! The two minute improv went by much too quickly. Hope he wins.

I can't wait to see how this plays out. Everybody has done a good job, but I want to see you really turn it on in Round3.

I know you will be there. It's just a question of who you face.

Represent.

Pace V. Etarane

You are by far the most exciting candidate in this competition.

You and Chris definitely dominated Round 2, but your 2-minute pitch for Snap Judgment in Round 1 puts you in the lead. I hope we get a chance to hear what Michael does with the gun.

I’m excited to see what you and the other six have to do in Round 3.

While there are three or four contestants that I feel I could listen to each week, so far there's no voice that has been more appealing to me than Glynn's.

The word association was the true tell for everyone; Chris's was quite good, but Glynn stands out above the others. Like his first entry, this left me wanting more. I think the difference is with Glynn, he's smart, but it's not like in-your-face cerebral. The emotion and energy take precedence, so listening is more fun.

I can see myself adding any show he does to my ipod routine.

Your new radio show. Was just tooling around the site and saw the comment from someone calling themselves a "Program Director".

Absurd.

Your entry rocked and you should know it.

Glynn has a nice, friendly style and delivery. Far better at the ad lib than at copy reading.

Not quite ready for hosting a national show.

John Hingsbergen
Program Director, WMUB-FM

I like his energy. I think he uses energy to get through painful copy. He lacked range. Everything went faster, faster, up up. I loved the mom story, but I couldn't totally follow it and I didn't quite get the end. I wasn't laughing with him, which means he can build good energy, but he isn't quite the polished storyteller or able to cover his nerves. Those are workable. I thought his billboard was good, but sounded exactly like an up-tempo NPR story. I would like to see him go on.

i will be really mad if glynn doesn't win.

why? he's clearly got The Right Stuff. The improv was amazing - the only one who actually had me laughing, like how Ira Shor is the only one who can consistently keep me in the car listening 'til the end of the segment, that engaging. And to do that with "grace"? I have no idea how I would have made that prompt interesting (give me "race" or "before you were born" and I could make something of it). To be that dynamic, to effortlessly show so much personality is a winning ticket to me. He doesn't have the professionally trained voice for the live read - though they were lively, just need a little work on pacing - but i think this contest should be a springboard for the naturals, not those who've gotten their radio voice down from years of having their own shows (though props out to them, too, it's just that (1) they've already got their entree and (2) given the advantage of experience they still didn't blow me away like glynn)

. . . one of the few entries I actually finished. The improv is tight and I really hope he makes it to the next round.

So obviously I loved it. You were my second 5. The free association was entertaining and clear and articulate. The live read again clear, articulate and powerful. The advert entertaining and powerful. My only reservation, and we'll see as time goes on, is that you sound a bit like those talk radio shows where the host is going to start trash talking others. I think it is the energy level. Super right wing and super left wing hosts always have that sort of high energy high power sound. Fun to listen to as long as the words stay true to the moderate NPR nature.

Glynn's word association was brilliant. He sounded a little nervous at first, but that he could spin such a yarn, with such drama and pacing, off the cuff, wins him my admiration (and an lol at the end). In this first piece, he was present, engaging, and real.

The reads were much less good. I might note that the live copy is not truly written for reading aloud, but maybe that was deliberate on the judges' part.

In short, I could easily hear Glynn hosting a mostly live program, but not so much a standard NPR magazine program, which requires strong copy-reading and writing.

listened to all the finalists - twice- and came back to Glynn - he's the one.

seriously the best yet! kudos!

Glynn could handle any job, anywhere. If Mr. Washington doesn't make it to the next round, this grand experiment is a complete failure.

This is exactly what npr needs. A fresh voice that sounds like he's not only breathing, but also has a rich inner life and a real sense of humor. If it were up to me i'd say: YOUR HIRED!

A great presence to go with a very interesting voice, not like any I can think of on Public Radio today. I hope you make it to the top, Glenn.

I get it. I liked it. It didn't sound like typical dj blather.

I was just going to vote, but I don't see how you can dog the free association here. A person is supposed to be free to create in this part. If you want to call it over the top you can, but clearly this an opportunity to show a different side of a radio personality.

I would rather hear an improv story than a 2 minute pontification. Anyway, I think the ending was cut off a bit, but that was it. These comments are coming a little late. If he was really rehearsed, I think it would have been more polished.

GX

If this contest is truly about finding a new voice on NPR that will pull in more listeners, Glynn is "the One". His free association was captivating, original, amazingly performed - and simply left me wanting more.

Combined with his first "Snap Judgement" entry, his gift for telling stories appears limitless. I simply cannot wait to hear what he'll come up with next.

The reading saved his entry from perfection - but the billboard was smartly written and delivered. He demonstrated an electric wit and presence that doesn't exist anywhere on the dial right now. Both Chris and Al came through with good entries, but Glynn was fabulous.

Enough said, MORE GLYNN PLEASE!

I thought Glynn's free association was forced and over the top. And actually I have listened to it 3 times and still do not quite understand the ending.
His humor comes through and that is a plus but I don't think he did the task at hand well. Copy read was good and the billboard well written but his use of music really hindered the flow. Al Letson is the only one so far that hit the right music for his copy.

Word Association: This is not a forensics competition. This sounds incredibly rehearsed and it's not supposed to be.

Live Copy Read:Nice job. A total 180 from the word association.

Billboard: Love the writing. It should have been read a little faster though.

That the term "grace" could set off such an emphatic delivery was a bit unsettling for me. However, his gift may well be drama. Good storytelling, in fact is just that. He seemed more comfortable with the "Billboard" piece and I think acting may be his forte.

wise. wise heart? wise head?
I'm trying to come up with a term that would be the opposite of smart ass. Whatever it is is what you are and what we need.

it seems you are able to take the best essence out of people and situations. (there's a four-letter word for it:love, but perhaps that goes to far.)

Hoping to hear more of you on the air, whether or not you do the hosting/managing/introducing or are a featured gem.

I don't know why everyone below thought the free association was so amazing. If you listened to it and didn't know what the word was, you could've guest 1000 things before "grace". He delivered it well, I'll give him that, but since his free association and copy read were better than the Billboard, it makes me wonder how good he'd be when he's NOT improvising.

Glynn's word association showed great creative imagination and passion. He needs to work on shifting gears and bringing it back a notch, it other words modulation, in his delivery. He is a very strong candidate that could be much better with a little more room to breath.

... and amazingly creative. i found it to be the strongest of all of the finalists. the rest was equally impressive. go get 'em, glynn.

did he come up with that right off the cuff?
damn. i'm envious.
particularly considering the challenge - it'd be easiest to take the given word "grace" and just spit out word associations in a story-less montage. the fact that he spun a tight narrative where grace wasn't even the main character...very impressive

the reads were less confident. glynn's voice has punch but that punch disappears with too many words. that first guns, germs n steel copy was like his kryptonite. the last read, better... because he was able to use the music to create interesting spaces between words.

I concur with the comments about Mr. Washington's storytelling ability. Something about his voice -- his range, pacing, and phrasing -- makes his entry (to my ears) stand out above the others. I could listen to him for much longer than the normal 2-5 minute news segments. And in fact, I was disappointed that his entry ended so soon.