It’s not every day that you get to meet the future TV and movie stars of America, or maybe even the world. That’s why it’s a big deal that we’re introducing you to ConcordTV’s newest Junior Hosts.
The local television station put out the word about Junior Host auditions a few months ago (with a little help from the Insider), and the talent showed up in droves, said Executive Director Doris Ballard.
Unlike in past years where there has been a Junior Host and an alternate, this year had such a strong group that Ballard decided to change up the format a little and choose three full-blown hosts.
Each host represents a different demographic: there’s two boys and a girl; a high-schooler, middle-schooler and elementary-schooler; and their ages are 14, 11 and 9.
“It was a perfect opportunity to get all three involved,” Ballard said.
The Junior Hosts will tackle various projects starting in 2016, such as conducting interviews on Concord On Air. They also hope to get the chance to interview some of the presidential candidates (everyone’s keeping their fingers crossed!).
The whole itinerary isn’t quite worked out just yet, Ballard said, and that’s because she wants to make sure everybody gets to do something when it works with their schedule.
“Nobody will have to choose between this and dance,” she said.
The new hosts and Ballard will start figuring all that out in January. They’ll arrange it so that nobody has to miss any other commitments – and this group has a lot of those, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
Apart from learning how to conduct an interview on camera, the hosts will also work on other skills related to the field.
“The idea is to build speaking skills,” Ballard said. “We’ll even put them behind the camera.”
By the sound of that, it seems like these youngsters will be ready for the big time as soon as they’re done with this Junior Host gig. Not that this isn’t already the big time.
Anyway, now that we’ve really built this up, we should probably deliver. It’s the least we can do for you after you’ve already read this far.
So without further ado, here are your 2016 ConcordTV Junior Hosts. Let’s have a big round of applause.
David Milliken, 14, Concord High School
How do you think you did at your audition?
At first, as I was in the car going home, I was like, I think I did alright. Maybe I said “like” too much. I don’t think there were too many flaws, just small mistakes.
Have you ever done anything on camera before?
I’ve done a couple of student films with one of the clubs here at Concord High’s film society, and then I took a camp for ConcordTV that taught me how to do editing.
What made you want to audition?
It’s good to get a head start on what I want to do for my future.
What do you want to end up doing?
My dream is to be on Saturday Night Live.
What does it mean to you to be the next Junior Host?
Got a good future, guaranteed.
Anything you’re nervous about taking on the new gig?
I think my only real nervous thing is finding people (to interview).
What are you most excited about?
Getting to talk to people. It’s always interesting seeing people that are doing other things.
Morgan Doherty, 9, Broken Ground School
How do you think you did at your audition?
I think it went pretty well, but I barely had any time to get my lines down, but that’s okay because I think I did pretty good considering what I could have done – I could have done really bad and messed up a bunch.
Were you nervous about anything going into the audition, not having had a lot of time to get your lines down?
I just didn’t want to mess up. I think that was my biggest pet peeve about auditioning. I just didn’t want to mess up.
Have you ever auditioned for anything like this before?
I’ve done a lot of theater camps and plays, and one of my favorite plays when I was little – I don’t know how old I was – but I did a Christmas play and my older sister was Mary and I was her little lamb, and it was really funny.
Have you ever done anything on TV before?
I don’t think so.
Are you excited to try some TV?
I’m really excited because when I get older, this is like another chance for me to get more famous. When I get older I want to be a famous actress and singer, so it’s just another way to build my famousness I guess.
What does it mean to you to be the next Junior Host?
I think that it will be a good experience, even though I haven’t done it before. It will still be really fun, and if I want to do it again I can, I know that I have that option. But yeah, I think it’s gonna be a good experience for me and I think it will make me less shy in front of the camera and everything.
Anything you’re nervous about taking on the new gig?
Probably just messing up.
Abraham WinnettKnoy, 11, Rundlett Middle School
How do you think you did at your audition?
Well, I can honestly say it did go well – obviously, that’s why I’m here – but it could have been better, I will say that. I messed up on the closing words a little bit. . . . I’m proud to be here, but I know that it can always be improved.
Have you ever done any reporting before?
Well, I’ve been to two ConcordTV camps. I did a lot of plays and I played different parts, so I guess you could say that I’m prepared, slightly.
What do you see in store for your future? News? Movies? TV? Music?
Well, I’m more thinking politics, like governor, Senate. Because, as I said earlier, there’s always room for improvement, so I’m thinking politics, that’s one of my goals.
Do you follow politics a lot now?
Oooh, yes. I have to, with my mom’s occupation – she’s Laura Knoy, from The Exchange on NHPR. So I kind of – I have to – pay attention to the politics.
Anything you’re nervous about taking on the new gig?
Screwing up. That’s almost everyone’s fear, frankly. Like, if you screw up, you just don’t focus on all the good things, so screwing up would definitely be my most prominent fear.
What are you most looking forward to?
I’ve always really wanted to be on the news, or simply in the media. I think that could lead to a potential career in politics.
