Back in March, Entertainment Tonight Canada put out a call for guest cohost audition videos, and I was all over it. I wrote up my script, chose a background to put up on my Smartboard at school (I just googled the ET Canada set and found the photo below) and assembled my wardrobe and cheesy props. (You'll have to watch the video to see those!)
My husband was in charge of production, direction, lighting and sound (on very short notice)...and we did it in two takes. I uploaded my video to the site (without editing; that sort of thing I only do with words, not videos), and my work was done. I knew that the show had set a date when they would be announcing the top four for Canada to vote on, and I figured that if I didn't make the cut no one would ever have to know that I entered.
Silly me.
A couple of nights before the big top four reveal, ET Canada decided to run some samples of the thousands of entries they'd received...and mine was one of them! (Of course they showed the part with my cheesy props!) Some were funny, some were serious, and some were superprofessional. In fact, there was one extremely professional video/host contender that I thought would win the competition hands-down (which helped me lower my expectations).
Of course I freaked out that I was actually shown on national television (and it's PVRd at my house if you ever want to watch it) but the ONLY person who saw it and recognized me was the husband of one of my coworkers. It was a funny conversation after the March Break: "So, Kate, this may sound weird, but were you on ET Canada because my husband thought he saw you...?"
There were about ten different clips shown, and I'm not at all saying that I made it to the top ten, but the four nominees were part of that group, so, you know. I kinda like to think that I did; so sue me.
Two nights later, the top four were announced (I made my husband watch it and report back to me) but alas, I did not make the cut. Nor did the woman whom I thought was the obvious front-runner, so I think they were looking for more of an interesting, talented "fan" than someone who was seriously looking to be a career TV host.
Although I was really excited about the idea of winning, I have to admit that I saw the silver lining and was actually a bit relieved not to be part of the top four voting competition. I'm just not the campaign-for-votes type, and it would have stressed me out. (But still would have been pretty cool. And no sour grapes here: all four candidates were great, and the eventual winner did a wonderful job.)
Anyway, it was a fun experience to break out of my shell and put the video together, and an honor to be included on the show. Maybe someday they'll come calling for me....or one of their competitors will, perhaps? I'll entertain a bidding war.
So, for your own viewing amusement (and so I can cross "risk-taking" off my list for the month), here's the minute-long video - the link is from Google Drive; I promise it's safe.
Go easy on me...(hey, my daily audience is a room full of 8 and 9 year olds and they always love me!)
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8-d8UttwJONckZfZnUtM2NlYUE/edit?usp=sharing
