“A toast to Claudia, the first media celebrity in the family”…..BSC # 85: Claudia Kishi, Live From WSTO

Memory Reaction

I actually thought it was really cool that Claudia got to not only host a show, but plan one. However, I never understood why the BSC were always listening to some little local station. If they are in Connecticut, they must get NYC stations. So, why not listen to stations actually targeted to teens? I thought that in all the books that mentioned the radio station. It just isn’t realistic.

Revisited Reaction

Claudia is bored, and she misses Stacey (this is right after Stacey quits), so she starts to look for a new hobby/interest. She can’t find anything that appeals to her, until she finds out about a contest the local radio station is having. Basically, it is an essay contest to find a kid/teen to host a radio show for kids (for a month). Somehow, Claud manages to write a coherent essay and wins. Obviously, since the title is about her being on the radio.

The second place winner is her assistant, and this happens to be Ashely Wyeth. So, of course, this causes some conflict since Claudia is not a huge fan of Ashley’s. But eventually they do manage to work together. Too bad that once it is over they go back to not talking. That happened whenever one of the girls made a new friend…they disappeared after the book was over. The show seems to go well, it is basically a variety/call-in type show, with each episode having a theme. It has all kids as guests, and Kristy is desperate to be one of them. She has audition three times before Claud and Ashley put her on, because her ideas totally suck. But she does eventually come up with something decent, with the help of the Arnold twins.

Meanwhile, Claud finds out the station is low on money and may have to close. She figures out they had the contest to get free labor, and is a little offended, but more worried about trying to save the station. I don’t see how having some kid (that you need to train) host a show for a couple hours a week (when you still need techs working) saves any money…but that is the story. Claudia encourages the station to run ads asking for donations. At the end, the mother of a boy who called into the show’s help/advice line, donates a huge amount of money because of Claud’s great advice (all she did was tell him the family should call a therapist). Don’t even ask how one person can donate enough to keep a station afloat for six-month. What would be real interesting, would be if they mentioned the station in a later book, because….what happens in six months? Won’t they be in the same boat? And actually wouldn't Claudia? Cause after hosting a show for a month she will be back to not having a "hobby."

High/Lowlights

• Kristy is talking about a Krusher’s game and mentions that some kid “ran home.” Claud thinks she means he actually went to his house. Did the ghostwriters really use that joke? Doesn’t everyone at least know about home plate? Seriously, if I know a sports term everyone should.

• Wow, check out this Claud outfit: “A backwards T-shirt, overalls I’d made by sewing together two halves cut from different pairs, and mismatched socks.” I think I’ll let that image speak for itself.

• Claudia has this list of hobbies to try and she crosses them all off for stupid reasons. Like, she won’t join the swim team because the chlorine would ruin her hair, she doesn’t try tap dancing, because she couldn’t do it brilliantly after a ten-minute lesson from Jessi, etc.

• When she writes her essay, Claud talks about how she “used to be a pretty decent writer.” Best laugh I have had all day.

• Janine is really nice in this book. When Claudia tells her family she won, Janine makes a big deal about it while their parents just ask about keeping up with her homework. I know I have said this before, but I really like when Janine and Claud get along.
  

• Kristy wants to turn the show into an ad for the BSC. Then she tries to get the Barrett kids (and their step-siblings) in a play, but none of the kids can remember the lines. Because, you know, they’re all little kids.

• Ashley keeps making fun of Claud’s spelling. Heh.

• Am I just clueless, or was “rank” ever slang that real people used?

• Claudia’s outfit for her first show, “I wore the coolest tuxedo I’d recently bought in a thrift shop, including a bright red velvet cummerbund. I removed the shoulder pads from the jacket, which made it really slouchy…Then I bought a pair of white socks with silver glitter.” I am going to say it is a good thing this is radio and not TV.

• This one guy at the radio station claims to be an intern, but he talks about how the station won’t be able to pay his salary for long. I want to know why this station is paying their interns. I studied communications, so I interned at a TV station and know several people who interned at a radio station. No one got any kind of salary. And everyone knew not to expect it.

• So, Claud and Ashley do a call-in segment where kids can ask for advice. This one little boy calls in because he is upset about his parents divorce. Claud gives him the number (off-air) of a psychologist Mary Anne went to (I have no idea when). It seems a little wrong to give out this name without actually speaking to the doctor. Maybe she isn’t taking new patients or something. Of course, this is the kid who’s mother gives the donation later, so I guess it worked out. I guess this is a magic shrink who can solve problems in less than a month.

• I am trying to think how much money it is to run a radio station for six months. That has got to be at least several hundred thousand, right? How rich do you have to be to give that kind of money to some radio station?