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By: BO SHELL
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It’s been a mantra of mine since college that radio is a dying media. Long since television changed the nature of news and entertainment, radio lost ground in the battle for consumer attention, except in those coveted time slots when drivers are locked in traffic or stuck on hours-long road trips.
The 10 p.m. to midnight slot on Sunday is not one of those times, so it felt a bit awkward to sit listening to the internet broadcast of the new nationally syndicated gay radio program “Twist” on Atlanta’s Q-100 for two hours.
This newspaper alerted readers to the show’s arrival on Jan. 6; it also airs on stations in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston and Washington D.C. and can be heard on AOL Radio (http://music.aol.com).
So I listened in on the Jan. 15 premiere in Atlanta with some initial interest. But for Showtime’s “L Word” fans, who would otherwise be watching their favorite girls go at it in the same timeslot, I’d say “Twist” is torture.
Gay hosts Will Wikle, Dennis Hensley and Atlanta’s own Melissa Carter kicked things off right with Madonna’s “Hung Up,” which ranked No. 5 on the program’s weekly countdown.
Carter cut in with relatively old news bites: blurbs about the Utah theater that refused to show “Brokeback Mountain,” the movie’s reported success as a straight date movie and gay “Survivor” winner Richard Hatch’s tax trial.
The program’s first long distance dedication featured a lesbian caller who wanted to express love for her girlfriend, which was followed by a call to the show’s therapist, Mya, who offered a pat “meet in the middle” answer to the caller’s question about his closeted boyfriend.
So far, the show seems a little over-produced, or at least more produced than a format touted as a “morning talk show “ should be. The music playing behind the talk—thumping disco in 4/4 time—was far too loud. Even during the psych sessions, it sounded more like three improbable friends talking in a club than three improbable friends talking in a radio booth.
Then came the commercials: 13 by my count. And the advertisers weren’t all that interesting. Among the most bizarre products were Stag Chili, Dermarest and Zantac—because gay audiences apparently struggle with heartburn, scaly skin and a hankering for down-home cookin’.
The show flat-lined from there, though there were a few highlights. Decent song choices, some interesting trivia and more long distance dedications were highlighted by a couple of laugh-out-loud moments spurred by the cast’s unexpected rapport once they warmed up.
It’s too bad the program’s talent is wasted on an overpowering format that doesn’t allow what would be the most entertaining moments to play out to their fullest potential.
Hensley, a celebrity watchdog, did a rather benign interview with Margaret Cho about her “Assassin” DVD for the show’s “Famous Friends” segment. Wikle voiced the weekly travel segment, which focused on Atlanta.
The program’s “gay discovery” of the week wasn’t much of a discovery, either: New York DJ-performer Ari Gold, who was well-inundated with press even before publisher Bruno Gmunder released a photo book on him last month.
Don’t get me wrong. If I were on the road or otherwise trapped in a place that didn’t have a TV, a computer or other people to talk to, I’d probably tune in to “Twist.” There’s no other place on radio to find quite this mix of factoids, news snippets and music geared towards gay listeners.
For that, the show should be commended. If nothing else, “Twist” is another victory in the battle for play in mainstream media. But I can’t help but think that something is missing. Maybe it’s more talk from the hosts, or maybe it’s more “morning show” spark.
Eventually, the show may serve as a vehicle for Sony’s new gay record label, which was co-founded by Matt Farber, who also masterminded the Logo cable channel and “Twist.” If that seems a little self-serving, it probably is. According to a news brief on the show, “Twist” listeners will be able to buy branded compilations of music including tracks from the new gay label.
I can hardly wait.
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