Admittedly late to this news, but the Public Radio Talent Quest has announced its 10 finalists. Over 1400 entries and 15,000 user votes later, one thing is clear: Chicago is in the house! 3 of the 10 finalists are from our fair city – congrats to Chicagoans Anne Glickman, Chuck Mertz, and Carrie Kaufman. As happy as this makes me, I must admit a profound sadness and sense of injustice regarding the absence of one contestant among the finalists – a certain Brendan Newman. He stole my heart with a little song he wrote for his entry, entitled Garrison Keillor is Going to Die. As many of you know, Garrison and I have had our differences over his non-radio pursuits – so I heartily enjoyed the subject matter of Mr. Newman’s song. That, and it’s also perhaps the greatest song ever written.
