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.

Glynn Washington is the Executive Director of the Young Entrepreneurs at Haas Center within the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business. The Young Entrepreneurs at Haas Center provides mentorships for hundreds of at-risk middle and high school students throughout the San Francisco Bay area. Glynn served on both Oakland's Fund for Children and Youth and the Oakland's anti- violence initiative, and has extensive international experience, having studied in Japan, and served as a diplomat in Malaysia. His winning entry can be heard here.

Rebecca Watson is the 26-year old founder and director of Skepchicks, LTD, an organization dedicated to promoting science and critical thinking among the general public (skepchick.org). She manages a growing online community with more than 500 registered users, writes daily online articles, and co-hosts The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, a weekly podcast with nearly 30,000 listeners. Her winning entry can be heard here.

Big check!

More about the Public Radio Talent Quest

Audio from all of the original Talent Quest entries can be heard here. PRX hopes the site becomes a resource for local and national program developers both within and beyond public radio.

"In addition to the top ten finalists there's a wealth of talent and energy throughout the other 1,400 entrants and the over 20,000 registered users on the site," said Jake Shapiro. "We plan to keep improving the site as a springboard for new opportunities and a talent database for stations and shows in public radio."

Sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcast, the Talent Quest was created to identify new and emerging voices for public radio. PRX took a participatory approach, working with stations and bloggers to put out the call for people with "hostiness," - that special something that makes you want to turn up the radio. In addition to a team of public radio pros judging the entries, the public cast votes for their favorites over a series of four rounds.

The public vote grew increasingly important as rounds progressed - ultimately selecting Boston's Rebecca Watson as their "people's choice" in the final round, displacing April Baer who was the judges' third choice.

Beginning next month and working through the middle of December, Watson, Letson, and Washington will create broadcast-length pilot programs with the help of individual mentors. Each winner will be paired with a mentor uniquely matched to their talents. Some of the finalist producers in public broadcasting will take part in this final phase of the Quest. The pilots will be shared with the public and the system before the end of the year at publicradioquest.com.

The Public Radio Talent Quest is a project of the Public Radio Exchange in Cambridge. Major funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional support comes from the stations, networks and programs that embraced the search for new talent, and helped to invite the country to the microphone. We are grateful for your support.

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