Brookline Resident in Finals of Public Radio Talent Quest

When the Public Radio Talent Quest was announced in April, Public Radio Exchange and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting said they were looking for the elusive quality of "hostiness."

A woman from Brookline has proven that she has the "hostiness." Rebecca Watson has risen to the top five out of a field of 1,500 contestants to be a new public-radio star.

Watson blogs at skepchick.org, and her proposed show is based on that site. The assignment was to create a brief demo for the program they would create if they won, and Watson's show will be "Skepchick," in which she seeks scientific reasons for supposedly paranormal events. For her submission, Watson applies her skeptical eye to the haunted places of Boston and Jim McCabe, who runs New England Ghost Tours.

You can vote for a winner at publicradioquest.com. Each of the five finalists has a five-minute sample, so listen and vote. The other finalists are April Baer of Portland, OR; Chris de Ville of Austin, TX; Al Letson of Jacksonville, FL; Watson of Brookline; and Glynn Washington of Oakland, CA.

As you can imagine, Bostonist is partial toward our local, but all these people have exciting entries, especially Glynn Washington's pitch, in which he reviews people who have made snap judgments. However, Watson has the best voice out of the entire bunch. Her voice is made for public radio.

You can rate each contestant's entry on their profile page. You have to create an account in order to vote, but the account-creation process isn't too painful. Voting ends at 11:59 ET on Sunday, September 23, and the winners will be announced next Wednesday night. Three of the five finalists will get $10,000 each and the chance to pitch a pilot to the Corporation of Public Broadcasting.

Image of Rebecca Watson from her page at the Public Radio Talent Quest's official site.