More than 575 people lined up at the QVC studios in West Chester, hoping to become the next on-air host for the shopping channel.
I can't believe some of these people thought they had a chance.
Posted on 04/01/2006 7:00:58 PM PST by wjersey
They were there to have fun and to be fun.
Fun as in, Wouldn't it be fabulous to own this mango slicer because, really, how can anyone live without it?
Fun in an I'm-your-friend-so-you-can-trust-me kind of way.
FUN with capital letters so everyone would know it was just for a hoot that they came to QVC's Studio Park in West Chester for a chance to be the home-shopping network's newest product host, and not, you know, for the celebrity and the high of persuading people to buy stuff they didn't know they needed.
From as far away as California they traveled to yesterday's open audition, 475 hopefuls by 3:15 p.m., each wanting to be the next Kathy Levine, QVC's very first host, who became a celebrity then jumped ship to the rival Home Shopping Network with her own line of clothing and jewelry.
But first they had to prove they were fun and friendly and cheery and trustworthy. And that if they were someday called upon to sell an Epiphany Platinum Clad Diamonique Vintage StyleFlower Ring for only $54, it would be as if they were chatting with a friend, who may or may not want a simulated diamond ring but couldn't help listening to their spiel.
Selling "over the backyard fence" is what they call it at QVC.
"We're not looking for a big performance," said Dan Wheeler, a 14-year QVC host, who dispensed tips to the mostly female and 40-ish pool of job-seekers. "Talk to the camera as if it's your best friend and you're having lunch."
It's harder than it seems, said Jack Comstock, the cable channel's vice president of television sales, who oversaw the audition.
"I've been doing this for 13 years and you can tell when people are trying to pitch something," Comstock said.
"I hate to call it a 'secret sauce' or 'it factor,' " he said. What he's looking for, Comstock said, is simply the ability to connect on a personal level.
QVC, after all, was a pioneer in interactive television. Viewers call Joan Rivers, Susan Lucci and Morgan Fairchild - who are hawking not only jewelry but dolls, teddy bears, skin cream, shampoo and exercise tapes - and guess what? The celebrities talk to them.
At Studio Park, the job applicants arrived with prop "products" in their hands and dreams in their hearts. Each got two minutes to deliver his or her prepared pitch to the camera. There were a number of actors, who looked bored and were somewhat dismissive, but came because their agents made them.
"I have a film in post-production," said young Jeffrey Bloonman, of Philadelphia.
According to QVC, more than 75 percent of its hosts have been culled from open auditions.
"What better job could there be?" gushed Katherina Cope, a massage therapist who drove from Richmond to deliver a sales pitch for her Kate Spade handbag.
"It sounds like so much fun," Cope said. "You go shopping."
Aspiring host Carol Wilson, a cocktail waitress from Laurel Springs, said she "loves everything about QVC. I buy so many of their products."
The on-air staff, everyone agreed, is warm and genuine and considerate. An applicant recalled how a host sympathized when a recent caller mentioned that her dog, or maybe it was her husband, had died.
No one mentioned the on-air personality, a former Miss Tennessee, who had to go to court to prosecute a string of stalkers.
"It's like watching your family," Wilson said.
Shelly A. Good-Cook, who should get the job on the basis of her name alone, brought pumpkin seed oil as her audition product.
"I used to sell cemetery property. This has got to be easier than that," Good-Cook, of Alexandria, Va., said.
The would-be peddlers did a decent enough job. Looked into the camera. Mentioned the product's special features. Gave the price and order number.
But when someone really nailed it, the way Donna Spurlock did, you could tell.
As a manufacturer's rep who appears regularly on QVC to hawk various companies' products, you might think Spurlock had an advantage.
"It's different if you're the host," said the mother of four from West Chester.
During her audition with the mango slicer, Spurlock left you with the impression that the round piece of yellow plastic was her favorite thing in the world - and would be yours, too, if you just picked up the phone and ordered one now.
She also added a warning, that the slicer wouldn't work with large mangos, which earned her kudos from Comstock.
"It's a trust issue," he said.
It will be four to six weeks before Spurlock and her competition find out whether they got the job. The pay is good. Bonnie Clark, a QVC spokeswoman, said only that it was "competitive," though the rumor among applicants put it in the $70,000 range to start.
New hosts get six months of training. Currently, there are 23 hosts and no openings, said Clark, but like NASA and its astronaut-training program, QVC likes to have people groomed for when they're needed.
Midway through yesterday's auditions, Comstock said he had already seen a particularly strong candidate. The network will review the tapes, then bring 10 or 15 people back for daylong interviews.
"It's like finding a needle in a haystack," Comstock said.
More than 575 people lined up at the QVC studios in West Chester, hoping to become the next on-air host for the shopping channel.
I can't believe some of these people thought they had a chance.
There's less plastic in my Toyota Tundra.
Hey, I would have gone if I'd know about it! I love QVC.
Which one do you think you could put more miles on?
I picked the "lucky numbers" on QVC once.
Used the little ping pong ball machine and everything!
Well, I guess that answers the question I was going to ask.
Eh, I'm just miffed that I didn't get that QVC Hand Model gig.
You can prejudge people all you like, but you don't know someone unless you spend time getting to know them... so if you are sitting there with a superiority complex, don't bother.
"You can prejudge people all you like, but you don't know someone unless you spend time getting to know them... so if you are sitting there with a superiority complex, don't bother."
Did you prejudge me? ;)
did you think less of me because I would do something like this? yes, if you are a snob, I did prejudge you.
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