I didn’t want to write about this before it had come to its conclusion, superstitiously thinking that I might jinx myself. Well, there’s no chance of that happening now.

After three weeks, I am now out of the running to be the next RX 93.1 Radio Idol. I recorded my audition reel on September 25. It was aired on October 2, and the next day someone from RX texted me telling me I had gone through to the next round.

Of course I was excited, but had no idea what to expect. Considering I only started listening regularly to the radio a few months ago, I hadn’t really paid attention to the whole flow of the Radio Idol contest. Basically, people who want to become DJs for the radio station try to avoid getting knocked out in the earlier rounds by competing in batches through a series of challenges. This week was the second round and I faced off against three other people: Ellen, Randy, and Luis.

So last night I sat in a booth with the other three “DJ wannabes” and Rico and Danielle, the Radio Idol hosts. After we all introduced ourselves over the air, we each had to pull a topic out of a box labeled “J.Lo’s” (weird, I know) and talk for 30 seconds about the random topic.

My co-competitors were nice; we all kind of bonded in the hour before our show was due to start and we spent the time talking about random stuff, like Spongebob Squarepants. Just before the show started, I had told my companions that OPM was my weakest suit in music. Unfortunately, that was the genre I pulled out of the box. “Rivermaya”, the piece of paper read.

All I knew, every witty remark I had in my brain — it felt like someone had taken my head, unscrewed the top off it, and emptied its contents into a wastebasket. I felt like Patrick Star when asked if he wanted fries with his Krabby Patty (i.e., “DUUUUUUUH” was the only thing sounding in my head).

So, in short, I embarrassed myself on national radio before the ears of thousands of listeners. Right then I already knew I’d have the “Not Worthy” stinger played after my name at show’s end.

But guess what? I’m more broken up about sounding like a fool than about losing the contest. I didn’t want it as much as the two “Worthy” contestants Ellen and Randy did. But Luis has been trying for nine years to get into RX, and this is his second time on Radio Idol.

It’s probably not my time, nor God’s will for me to go into radio this way. As Gelli texted me after the show, there are other opportunities, other openings. While there’s the Wildcard entry that may still be open to me in Radio Idol, I’m not really counting on it. Like I told Randy last night, I’m just interested in seeing where I fit in, where I can excel. I learn that through both being accepted and being rejected.

Tag: Embarrassing Situation, Radio

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