Two Ohio State students want to be the next “face” of a local television network. Seniors Nick Uhas and Vicki Bouttavong are competing with eight others from the Columbus area for the title of CW Star. The CW is a national network that has a station, WWHO-TV, in Columbus. The station is trying to find a talented young person to be a spokesperson for the network.

“It’s so important for me because the direction I want to go in life is in the entertainment field,” said Uhas, a biology major.

Bouttavong agreed. She said this was a good learning experience.

“I think this is a good opportunity for me as a journalist to really get experience and get my foot in the door,” she said.

The initial CW Star auditions were held in September at three Columbus locations, including Buck-i-Frenzy, a Student Life event at OSU. Each contestant auditioned in front of a camera and CW director, then recorded a “Plea for Votes” video to convince viewers that he or she should be the next CW Star. Nine finalists were selected by the station, then the 25 semifinalists’ videos were streamed on the CW Web site, where viewers and fans voted on the 10th candidate. More than 64,000 votes were cast.

While volunteering for Buck-i-Frenzy, Bouttavong saw that the CW was holding auditions. She decided to apply even though she didn’t have a headshot or two forms of identification, which were requirements for the contest.

“It was kind of funny – it seemed like everything was against me, but I actually made it to the top 10 after that,” Bouttavong said.

Once the 10th finalist was chosen, the CW once again auditioned each contestant. The judges were local celebrities – professionals in modeling, acting, broadcasting and the entertainment industry. The judges included Jason Perkins, the current CW Star; Krista Kae, host of a CD101 morning show; and Charley Wasson, the host of a morning show on Mix 97.1.

The last audition required contestants to read scripts, answer judges’ questions and perform spontaneous promos.

The judges grade the contestants on confidence, personality, likability, enthusiasm, appearance and the ability to follow direction.

The winner will be decided by the judges’ votes, online votes, a background check and the station’s directors. After the competition, the winner will be hired and paid to be a one-year, part-time employee of the station. The winner will have the chance to work in the industry, recording promotions on the radio, Internet, TV and cable. The two OSU contestants see this as the perfect opportunity to gain career experience. “I’ll learn a lot of the crucial skills I need to be part of the entertainment industry,” Uhas said.



The voting ends Sunday at midnight. The winner of the CW Star contest will be announced Nov. 25 after the votes are counted. To see the videos of the CW Star contestants and to vote for your favorite competitor, visit www.wwhotv.com.

D’Andrea Kinley can be reached at [email protected].